Childless employees pick up the slack for workers with families

Two thirds of childless women aged 28 to 40 feel that they are expected to work longer hours, according to a report compiled by PwC and Business in the Community.

In fact, “singlism” a term coined by Bella DePaulo, a Professor of Psychology at the University of California, to describe the stigmatisation and discrimination against singles in the workplace, is receiving an increased attention by researchers – BBC reports.

Take the case of Janice Chaka, who was working in human resources in Guadalajara, Mexico.  She spent her lunch hour organising for a friends’ visit, and after getting stuck in traffic on her way back to the office, she was five minutes’ late.

She told the BBC that she was “asked a lot of questions,” and was forced to do extra work. “But I know if I’d been late back from taking my kid to the doctor, that wouldn’t have even been an issue, in fact I probably could have taken the whole afternoon off,” she claims.