International Women’s Day (8 March) provides an important moment for employers to reflect on progress in the workplace around gender equity. Beyond representation and policy, there is a more practical question HR leaders must confront: are workplace systems doing enough to support women and their career development once parental leave ends?
The Bright Horizons Modern families index 2026, published in January 2026, suggests the answer is not yet, as the data reveals the motherhood penalty persists.
Mothers are 50% more likely than men to say having children has harmed their career. Among parents also caring for ageing relatives, nearly half (48%) of mothers report a negative career impact compared with 38% of fathers. High stress levels are reported in 39% of mothers juggling both childcare and eldercare.
For HR leaders, these figures should not be viewed solely as a gender equity issue; they signal a structural workforce risk.
Care pressures are intensifying across the workforce. Forty-three percent of sandwich carers are actively reconsidering their current employment due to care demands. Working parents took an average of 4.2 days off last year to cover childcare, while carers took 4.1 days for eldercare. One in five employees used sick leave to manage short-notice care emergencies.
This has direct operational consequences. Some 29% of working parents report very high stress, and more than three-quarters of those say it sometimes makes it hard to function well at work. For organisations, this translates into an unhelpful culture of presenteeism alongside reduced productivity and increased absence. Over time, sustained pressure contributes to disengagement and attrition.
In this context, the evolving parental leave landscape, while welcome, is only part of the solution. Expanded leave rights support families at the start of the parenting journey, but crucially, do not address the unpredictable care breakdowns that follow for many years afterwards.
Flexible working has improved employee autonomy, but flexibility alone cannot resolve emergency care disruption. When childcare arrangements collapse or eldercare needs escalate, the issue is not where someone works but rather whether they have access to reliable support that will allow them to continue working at all.
For HR, the strategic question becomes clear: how do we reduce care-driven absence, protect productivity and retain experienced women at critical career stages?
Practical care infrastructure is one answer.
Back-up care provides access to emergency childcare and adult care at short notice, enabling employees to manage unexpected disruption without stepping away from their roles entirely. By reducing the need for reliance on annual leave and sick leave to cover care gaps, unplanned absence can be reduced. By alleviating stress at the point of crisis, it supports attendance, focus and performance. And by enabling continuity during demanding life stages, it strengthens retention and leadership pipelines.
Importantly, visible care support also shapes culture. When employees feel confident discussing family responsibilities and accessing support, engagement rises. When they do not, talent quietly exits.
International Women’s Day should prompt HR leaders to look beyond policy commitments and assess whether their benefits strategy reflects modern family life. Addressing care is not a peripheral wellbeing initiative. It is a core component of workforce planning.
Organisations that treat care support as infrastructure rather than an optional benefit will be better positioned to reduce absenteeism, tackle presenteeism and protect long-term retention. Supporting working parents and carers is not only aligned with gender equity. It is central to sustainable organisational performance.
Emma Willars is talent and development manager at Bright Horizons Work and Family Solutions
