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When school lets out for summer, many parents struggle to piece together childcare, adjust their schedules and stay on top of work responsibilities, often with limited support. Becoming a parent has given me a deeper, more personal understanding of what working parents are juggling, especially when their support systems are stretched thin. I grew up watching two working parents handle it all. Even with just one child, I can feel how demanding it is. That lived experience has sharpened my empathy and made me more aware of how different each family’s situation can be.
So much of the load parents carry is invisible: coordinating school pickups, managing last-minute sick days, finding childcare or simply staying emotionally present while switching between personal and professional roles. Summer brings a different kind of unpredictability. Camps may only run for half the day. Family travel peaks. Normal childcare routines break down.
Research by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that mothers of children ages 6-12 spend 31 more minutes per day, and fathers 18 more minutes per day, caring for their children in the summer compared to the school year. This may not sound like a lot, but consider that extra time over 70 or 80 days of summer and add it to the already time-intensive responsibilities of parenthood.
So, how can leaders better support working parents during these unpredictable summer months?
Related: How to Create a Supportive Workplace Culture Without Sacrificing Productivity
Make flexibility the norm, not the exception
One of the most meaningful ways leaders can help parents navigate summer break is by embracing schedule flexibility. For some employees, that might mean working earlier or later than usual. For others, it means shifting to asynchronous collaboration to keep projects moving without everyone online at the same time. Implementing “core hours,” a daily block of time set aside for live collaboration, with the rest of the day open for focused solo work, can help to balance team connectivity with individual productivity.
Offer team-wide calendar reviews at the start of summer to reduce unnecessary meetings and empower time ownership. Doing meeting-free days, or even weeks, during peak school breaks can also help prevent burnout. These approaches allow people to work in ways that suit their lives while still maintaining momentum. Research from Future Forum supports this, showing that employees with schedule flexibility report 29% higher productivity and more than 50% greater ability to focus.
Companies that go further, such as by offering stipends for summer childcare or providing access to virtual summer camps through employee perks platforms, are not just helping parents stay afloat. They’re investing in long-term engagement and retention.
Don’t assume top performers are fine
A common mistake leaders make is assuming high-performing employees will figure things out. They’re adaptable, resourceful and driven, so why wouldn’t they manage just fine during a hectic season like summer? But that thinking overlooks a key truth: Even the most capable people have limits. And when leaders fail to check in or offer support, those employees may not speak up. Instead, they may quietly burn out or disengage.
The better approach is to create space for open dialogue. As a leader, I’ve learned the importance of checking in proactively, not just to ask about work, but also how people are really doing. Employees who feel supported by their manager are over three times more likely to be engaged at work. That starts with creating space for honest conversations. Encourage managers to normalize conversations about caregiving and offer micro-flexibility (i.e. shifting hours, no-meeting blocks) as a baseline for supporting parents.
Broader company-wide conversations can happen through short surveys or structured feedback from employee resource groups. The goal with these initiatives is to listen. Salesforce, for example, found that employees who feel heard are over four times more likely to feel empowered and do their best work. Often, people don’t expect you to solve everything; they just want to know someone sees what they’re carrying and cares enough to ask.
Lead by modeling boundaries and presence
Since becoming a parent, I’ve also had to change how I manage my own time. I’ve become ruthless about timeboxing. I give each task, meeting or decision a hard boundary and focus deeply within that window. When the time’s up, I move on. That discipline has helped me avoid dragging work into every corner of the day and allowed me to be more present both at home and at work.
Presence is something we sometimes underestimate in leadership. It’s not about always being available. It’s about fully engaging in the moment, whether in a one-on-one meeting, a group brainstorming session or at your kid’s first swim lesson. Everyone’s version of presence will look different, and that’s part of the point. When leaders model this, it sets a tone and gives others permission to be human, too.
One study found that 96% of employees believe empathy from leadership improves retention. Empathy doesn’t have to be dramatic. Sometimes, it just looks like a calendar that reflects your priorities and a culture that supports others in doing the same.
Summer is a chance to rethink what support looks like
Every summer, families shift their routines to keep everything moving, and employers should do the same. As leaders, our responsibility is not to expect everyone to adapt to a rigid system but to create a workplace flexible enough to adapt to people’s lives. That starts with trust, empathy and a willingness to lead with curiosity rather than assumptions.
Parenthood has helped me see all of this more clearly. And while my daughter isn’t in school yet, the lessons she’s already taught me about presence, patience and what really matters are shaping how I show up for my team every day. When we create room for those kinds of human moments at work, we get better results while building stronger, more resilient cultures that last long after the summer is over.
When school lets out for summer, many parents struggle to piece together childcare, adjust their schedules and stay on top of work responsibilities, often with limited support. Becoming a parent has given me a deeper, more personal understanding of what working parents are juggling, especially when their support systems are stretched thin. I grew up watching two working parents handle it all. Even with just one child, I can feel how demanding it is. That lived experience has sharpened my empathy and made me more aware of how different each family’s situation can be.
So much of the load parents carry is invisible: coordinating school pickups, managing last-minute sick days, finding childcare or simply staying emotionally present while switching between personal and professional roles. Summer brings a different kind of unpredictability. Camps may only run for half the day. Family travel peaks. Normal childcare routines break down.
Research by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that mothers of children ages 6-12 spend 31 more minutes per day, and fathers 18 more minutes per day, caring for their children in the summer compared to the school year. This may not sound like a lot, but consider that extra time over 70 or 80 days of summer and add it to the already time-intensive responsibilities of parenthood.
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