Work from home, a burden for parents: survey

The survey by recruitment company Adecco Vietnam found roughly the same ratio working outside of regular hours to balance work and family needs.

More than a quarter of working parents suffer from burnout, the online survey which polled 390 people nationwide in August said.

Working parents now spend 23.2 hours per week on housework and childcare, 6.3 hours more than before the epidemic started.

Over a third of employers do not offer any support to working parents.

Some 25 percent of working fathers and 12 percent of working mothers had their wages cut.

The former are worried about their financial status, security and job prospects and relationship with their spouses, while the women are stressed about the safety and health of the family, lack of childcare support and grocery shopping.

What the respondents expect most from their companies are flexible working hours (48 percent) followed by childcare allowance (35 percent), mental health and wellness programs (30 percent) and additional paid leave (26 percent).

They also have certain worries about returning to the workplace.

The risk of Covid infection is their top concern (56 percent) followed by changes in daily routine (36 percent) and loss of flexibility (27 percent).

Besides providing certain benefits like flexible work hours to all employees, employers should also consider parent-oriented components such as childcare allowance, gifts for Children’s Day and parental leave, Chuong Nguyen, associate director of recruitment at Adecco Vietnam, HCMC, said.