Support | As summer heats up, help your employees avoid family care meltdowns

While for some people summer means sunshine, longer days, ice cream in the park or getting away for a holiday, for many parents and carers it’s something quite different: a challenging juggling act.

For parents looking to balance keeping the kids entertained over the (seemingly never ending!) school holidays, with work demands, and quality family time, the summer holidays can be an extremely stressful period. Many of those who rely on friends and family for care may find their support team are away for their own summer holidays. For those whose children are normally in school, but aren’t yet old enough to be left to their own devices during the break, there’s the thorny and potentially expensive question of how to care for them during the summer holidays.

And now there’s the cost-of-living crisis on top of “business as usual” summer holiday care planning. This adds further pressure for parents and carers, trying to make their money go further to cover rocketing food and energy prices before they begin to consider the cost of holiday clubs or other options.

There is a place for forward-thinking employers in this complicated equation. For organisations looking to support their staff, there are a number of practical steps they can take.