The Sick Day Still Lands on Mom
In a KFF survey, 58 percent of working mothers say they are the one who stays when a child is too sick for school or childcare, against 20 percent of working fathers. Among mothers who do that care, alone or with a partner, 53 percent lose pay.
The daycare texts at 10:40. Someone has to leave work.
In a KFF survey, 58 percent of working mothers said they are the one who stays when a child is too sick for school or childcare. Twenty percent of working fathers said that about themselves. Nearly three times as many mothers as fathers say they are that person.
Karen Diep led the write-up at KFF. Interviewers talked with 3,538 women ages 18 to 49, and with men the same age, from March 11 to April 14. The sick-day questions went to people who have a child under 18 and a job.
Ask them separately
Twenty-one percent of those mothers said they split the day with a partner. Thirty-two percent of the fathers said they split it too.
Nine percent of mothers said their partner is usually the one who stays. Ask the fathers and 34 percent give that answer. Twelve percent of mothers and 14 percent of fathers said someone else can come, or the child can stay home alone.
KFF asked a similar question in 2022. The split was about the same.
The hours and the paycheck
Among mothers who take the day alone or share it, 53 percent said they lose pay. Among fathers who do the same, 38 percent lose pay too.
KFF found that loss for 62 percent of Black mothers and 65 percent of Hispanic mothers, compared with 50 percent of White mothers. Black and White, in these figures, means not Hispanic.
Under twice the federal poverty level, 76 percent of mothers lost pay. At or above that line, 41 percent did.
KFF did not print a separate pay-loss number for Asian mothers. The Asian women in the survey were mostly people who answered in English, 307 of them, and KFF says that group may not stand in for Asian adults overall. Their answers are in the national totals. They are not a separate line on this question.
A check for a baby who is not here yet
The same survey also asked about a child who is not born yet. Cheaper childcare would make 43 percent of women 18 to 49 more likely to consider one. The same share said that about a rule requiring paid parental leave.
A bigger child tax credit drew 35 percent. So did a one-time check after a baby arrives.
About half of men said cheaper childcare or required paid leave would make them more likely to consider a child. Among women already considering one, childcare help mattered to 68 percent and paid leave to 72 percent. Among women who are not considering a child, 37 percent said those two policies would change that.
Most women in the survey are in that last group. Twenty-three percent are considering a child in the next three years. Sixty-three percent are not, and 14 percent are not sure.
Say it before the next text arrives. If the daycare texts, I leave, and here is whether I get paid.