Skip to content

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/

Menu

  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships
    • From the Collection

      Changing Child Care

      Illustration of a woman feeding a baby a bottle
      • As climate change worsens hurricane season in Louisiana, doulas are ensuring parents can safely feed their babies

        Jessica Kutz · May 5
      • Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito argued abortion isn’t an economic issue. But is that true?

        Chabeli Carrazana · May 4
      • Pregnant people are at 'greater risk' in states hit hard by wildfire smoke, air pollution, new report shows

        Jessica Kutz · April 20
    • From the Collection

      Next-Gen GOP

      Illustration of a woman riding an elephant
      • A banner year for Republican women

        Amanda Becker · November 11
      • Republican women could double representation in the U.S. House

        Amanda Becker · November 4
      • U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik wants to elect more Republican women into office

        Barbara Rodriguez · August 13
    • From the Collection

      On The Rise

      Illustration of three women marching
      • Jessica Cisneros takes on the last anti-abortion U.S. House Democrat

        Amanda Becker · February 25
      • Meet J. Michelle Childs, South Carolina judge and possible Supreme Court contender

        Candice Norwood · February 18
      • ‘The bench is loaded’: A record number of Latinas are running for governor

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 11
    • From the Collection

      Pandemic Within a Pandemic

      Illustration of four people marching for Black Lives Matter with coronavirus as the backdrop
      • Some LGBTQ+ people worry that the COVID-19 vaccine will affect HIV medication. It won’t.

        Orion Rummler · November 23
      • Why are more men dying from COVID? It’s a complicated story of nature vs. nurture, researchers say

        Mariel Padilla · September 22
      • Few incarcerated women were released during COVID. The ones who remain have struggled.

        Candice Norwood · August 17
    • From the Collection

      Portraits of a Pandemic

      Illustration of a woman wearing a mask and holding up the coronavirus
      • For family caregivers, COVID is a mental health crisis in the making

        Shefali Luthra · October 8
      • A new database tracks COVID-19’s effects on sex and gender

        Shefali Luthra · September 15
      • Pregnant in a pandemic: The 'perfect storm for a crisis'

        Shefali Luthra · August 25
    • From the Collection

      The 19th Explains

      People walking from many articles to one article where they can get the context they need on an issue.
      • The 19th Explains: The governor’s races we’re watching in 2022

        Barbara Rodriguez · May 3
      • The 19th Explains: What to know about Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing

        Candice Norwood, Terri Rupar · March 21
      • The 19th Explains: Colleges are dropping the SAT in admissions. That’s a good thing for most girls.

        Nadra Nittle · March 3
    • From the Collection

      The Electability Myth

      Illustration of three women speaking at podiums
      • Stepping in after tragedy: How political wives became widow lawmakers

        Mariel Padilla · May 24
      • Do term limits help women candidates? New York could be a new testing ground

        Barbara Rodriguez · January 11
      • Girls are being socialized to lose political ambition — and it starts younger than we realized

        Barbara Rodriguez · September 23
    • From the Collection

      The Impact of Aging

      A number of older people walking down a path of information.
      • Woman alleges that an assisted living facility denied her admission because she is transgender

        Sara Luterman · November 8
      • LGBTQ+ seniors fear having to go back in closet for the care they need

        Sara Luterman · October 12
      • The pandemic continues to strain nursing homes. What happens if a lot of them close?

        Mariel Padilla · September 9
    • From the Collection

      Voting Rights

      A series of hands reaching for ballots.
      • Florida’s redistricting fight continues. The head of the state League of Women Voters talks about what’s at stake.

        Barbara Rodriguez · April 19
      • Women have been sounding the alarm ahead of Texas’ first-in-the-nation primary

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 28
      • LGBTQ+ people of color are at risk from rising voter restrictions as federal protections falter in the Senate, advocates say

        Orion Rummler · January 19

    View all collections

  • Explore by Topic

    • Abortion
    • Business & Economy
    • Caregiving
    • Coronavirus
    • Education
    • Election 2020
    • Elections 2022
    • Environment & Climate
    • Health
    • Immigration
    • Inside The 19th
    • Justice
    • LGBTQ+
    • Politics
    • Race
    • Sports
    • Technology

    View All Topics

Home
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

News Fellowships

HBCU alums, become a fellow in our newsroom

Apply Today

Donate to support our fellows

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

A mother helps her daughter with online classes in their home.
Arobine Martin, 9, left, and her mother Sarah zoom with Arobine's grandfather Doug Beatty in Arkansas at their home in Centennial, Colorado on Wednesday, March 10, 2021. Arobine has been taking online class for over 9 months. Beatty tutored her mathematics questions during her online class period. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

Coronavirus

LinkedIn’s inclusion of “stay-at-home parent” could refocus discussion on child care, experts say

The networking site is adding titles so people can denote caregiving responsibilities. Experts say employers should consider these skills when recruiting.

Alexa Mikhail

Fellow

Published

2021-04-13 16:16
4:16
April 13, 2021
pm

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

The professional networking site LinkedIn announced it would allow users to identify themselves as stay-at-home parents, a recognition of caregivers and those who are not a part of the traditional workforce. Experts say this has the potential to destigmatize the work of caregivers both in and out of the home and level the playing field for employment. 

“I think it’s really a welcome inclusion to be able to record any form of caregiving in places that are usually reserved for what’s often been referred to as productive labor versus reproductive labor,” said Corey Shdaimah, a professor of social justice at the University of Maryland, who noted that the burden of caregiving disproportionately falls on women and women of color. 

LinkedIn will allow users to write “stay-at-home mom,” “stay-at-home dad” or “stay-at-home parent,” and will also begin to include options for “parental leave,” “sabbatical” and “family leave.” Many women and mothers, in particular, voiced concern about the platform’s limited options to reflect work and skill sets, especially during the pandemic, Bef Ayenew, LinkedIn’s engineering director, told CBS News. This move came after writer Heather Bolen criticized the platform’s lack of recognition for caregivers; she worked as a stay-at-home mom and did not have a way to accurately represent it on her digital resume. 

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Women — especially Black women — and LGBTQ+ people have been disproportionately pushed out of the workforce since the start of the pandemic over a year ago. Roughly 3 million women have lost jobs since the pandemic began, according to Labor Department data. Experts say though LinkedIn’s choice is a step forward, it is also important for there to be options in job applications across the board to explain specific gaps in employment as the pandemic lingers on. Women have also faced the burden of online schooling for their children as well as the closure of daycares and child care centers. 

LinkedIn’s changes could have the potential to normalize the work of caregivers in a way that recognizes their unique abilities, Shdaimah said. Incorporating stay-at-home caregivers on a professional page could show employers experience from organization and management to multitasking and budgeting. These traits could make caregivers an asset to workplaces that largely left them out of the discussion, Shdaimah said. 

“What are the skills that it takes to run your home? Or even juggle part-time work?” Shdaimah said. “These skills are transferable skills anywhere, and they get to count.” 

A newsletter you can relate to

Storytelling that represents you, delivered to your inbox.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting…

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Experts say addressing caregiving and familial responsibilities should be a natural part of many career trajectories and should be reflected in them. 

“Even as access to paid family and medical leave expands across the U.S., there will still be some who choose to take time away from paid work, or who have no choice but to do so to care for a loved one in need,” said Jennifer Greenfield, an associate professor at the University of Denver and an expert in child care. “With the cost of childcare remaining out of reach for many families, it will still be the more affordable choice for some to stay home when kids are young, and it would be fantastic if this choice didn’t have devastating consequences for parents’ employment and income down the road.”

The pandemic has uncovered the essential need for accessible child care, and the large financial burden mainly women face when deciding whether or not to stay home with their children or find work to afford child care programs, said Addie Swartz, the CEO of ReacHIRE, a program aimed at creating a pipeline for people to reenter the workforce later in their life. Further outlining the option to denote caregivers on a widely used networking site will continue to elevate the importance of child care, she said. 

“The roles that daycare and schooling and child care play in a woman’s ability to work are critical, and yet, I don’t think that they were ever in the light of day,” Swartz said. 

For Shdaimah, the “sheer number” of women who have left the workforce because of caregiving responsibilities should shed light on the immense need society has for them, she said. 

Both Shdaimah and Swartz also hope this change challenges the prestige associated with platforms that solely reward and encourage traditional work.

“Fitting somebody into a job description is just not the answer,” Swartz said. “Look past the career gaps and really force corporations to look at individuals’ broader skill sets.” 

While this change is a recognition and possible step forward, it all will depend on how employers view applicants who have been out of the workforce, whether that was forced or voluntary.

“If workplaces are truly committed to diverse and equitable care to being diverse and equitable workplaces, they need to consider the reasons why people might have had to come out of the workforce, and they need to put their money where their mouth is and not penalize people for that,” Shdaimah said. 

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

News Fellowships

HBCU alums, become a fellow in our newsroom

Apply Today

Donate to support our fellows

Up Next

A young woman receives the Johnson & Johnson vaccine from.a pediatric nurse practitioner.

Coronavirus

The U.S. is recommending pausing Johnson & Johnson’s COVID vaccine. Women wonder what’s next.

Touted as a tool for equity, the vaccine is on hold after six women developed blood clots soon after getting a shot. The complications are still exceedingly rare.

Read the Story

The 19th
The 19th is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our stories are free to republish in accordance with these guidelines.

  • Donate
  • Subscribe to the Newsletter
  • Attend an Event
  • Jobs
  • Fellowships
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Community Guidelines
  • Membership
  • Membership FAQ
  • Major Gifts
  • Sponsorship
  • Privacy
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram