There’s no question that being a working parent is difficult. Juggling your children’s school and extracurricular schedules with deadlines at work while trying to maintain a strong relationship with your partner can be overwhelming. But the truth is, even people who don’t have kids can still be extremely busy and are equally entitled to time off from work.
One man recently reached out to Reddit detailing how he was pressured to swap vacation days with a colleague because she’s a parent and he’s not. Below, you’ll find the full story, as well as some of the replies invested readers shared.
This man was thrilled about the trip that he booked months ago
Image credits: Sora Shimazaki / Pexels (not the actual photo)
But now, he's facing immense pressure to swap vacation days with a colleague just because she has children
Image credits: Timur Weber / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: ZooterBobSquareCock
Image credits: Yan Krukau / Pexels (not the actual photo)
74% of employees believe that parents are treated better than childfree adults in the workplace
Despite all of the talk about declining birth rates that we’ve heard in recent years, having children is still the norm in a lot of places. A Gallup report from 2023 found that 69% of adults in the United States had kids, and 15% didn’t have any yet but planned to in the future. In fact, only 8% of adults had no interest in ever becoming parents.
And when it comes to raising kids nowadays, it is important for parents to have ample support. We all know “it takes a village,” which means moms and dads shouldn’t be expected to do it alone. Parents deserve to have access to paid maternity and paternity leave, affordable childcare, reasonable medical bills, etc. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that parents should be the only ones getting support.
Because it’s still not the norm to be childfree, many adults without kids report feeling overlooked and undervalued in many aspects of their lives. And one place where this is particularly prevalent is at work.
A survey from ResumeLab found that a whopping 72% of employees have noticed childfree workers being treated unfairly simply because they don’t have kids. And 74% of workers believe that parents are treated better in the workplace than childfree adults.
Some examples of this include being denied time off, which 63% of childfree workers have experienced, and being required to work overtime, which over two thirds of childfree workers have experienced. 70% of workers without kids also say they’ve been given a greater workload than their colleagues that are parents at least once. And 85% of survey respondents said parents get priority when planning vacation days.
Image credits: Mateusz Dach / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Everyone is entitled to vacation days, whether they have kids or not
This often happens because employers assume that it’s not a big deal if people who aren’t parents have to stay late or move their vacation days, because they don’t have children waiting for them at home. And why would they need specific days off if they don’t have to plan around their children’s schedules? This issue is particularly prevalent when it comes to holidays, as parents are rarely forced to work on Christmas yet childfree employees are usually expected to.
But everyone is entitled to time off from work, and it’s unfair to deny anyone days off, whether they are requesting them to hang out with their kids or relax on the couch with their cat. Everyday Health notes that taking vacations can be crucial for employees’ physical and mental health.
Taking time off might lower your risk of heart disease, reduce stress and anxiety, reduce depression, improve productivity and increase your overall life satisfaction.
One study even found that a vacation lasting only four or five days had a positive impact on participants’ self-reported health and wellness after they returned home, especially when they were completely detached from work during that time. Meanwhile, those who still did some work during their vacation reported worse health and wellness after their trip.
We would love to hear your thoughts on this situation in the comments below, pandas. Do you think this man was right to stand his ground and refuse to move his vacation? Feel free to weigh in. Then, you can find another Bored Panda article discussing similar workplace drama right here.
Many readers took the author's side, assuring him that he's under no obligation to change his plans
However, a small minority didn't like how he handled the situation
