CoVID’s pandemic can lead more than 80 million young foreigners into family poverty by the end of 2020, ACCORDING to UNICEF estimates, in addition to the 600 million young foreigners already living in poverty. These figures are basically for low- and middle-income countries, although high-income countries like the United States are not immune in any way. UNICEF, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO), also estimates that up to 19 million young people may be forced to work as children as a result of the global fitness crisis, reversing the progress made in recent years. This has a primary implication for the chains of origin of foreign companies, in addition to those based in the United States.
Family-friendly business policies and practices in the office play a key role in preventing young people from becoming out of poverty. They allow parents to balance the daily work of the family circle with pictorial needs so that they can do the ultimate vital task of all: raising their children. Family-friendly policies (FFP) include:
In the context of the existing crisis, employment coverage and the source of income are also critical. These measures are vital for low-income staff and those with the most precarious jobs, as those staff and staff do not have access to many of those benefits, even if they want them most.
We know from our studies that running parents want 3 things that are addressed through those policies and benefits: time, monetary resources, and services.
This requires action from stakeholders. If we want to reconsider the workplace, we want governments, businesses, civil society and parents to come to the centre. This will help create an environment in which parents can be productive workers and help their children succeed to their full potential.
To this end, UNICEF USA organized a virtual debate on how businesses help COVID-19 caregivers and their plans for the future. Speakers representing Johnson and Johnson, Microsoft, Unilever, the Paternity Licensing Working Group, the International Finance Corporation and Zero to Three highlighted what they have learned from their efforts to help parents with COVID-19 and described the ongoing adjustments they expect to see after the pandemic. .
In the absence of domestic policies in the United States, corporations have taken steps to fill the gaps where possible. COVID-19, said Harsha Jalihal, Unilever’s vice president of human resources for the United States, did not interfere with the company’s institutional commitments to employees. On the contrary, the crisis has “amplified those commitments to help our staff and their families in the price chain,” starting with the highest degrees of leadership. In addition to maintaining pre-existing PFF, this has also included expanding intellectual aptitude resources and leveraging cutting-edge investment models to provide assistance to all members of Unilever’s global community.
Teresa McDade, Director of Social and Personal Benefits at Microsoft, echoed the importance of supporting staff outside the organization’s headquarters. She shared the organization’s original foundation for requiring all U.S. providers. That they grant paid leave to their employees—namely, while FPF were vital to “the health, well-being, and diversity of [Microsoft]’ employees,” those policies were equally valuable. for staff who are deep in the chain of origin that “is also a must for our success.” This line of thought, he says, is more applicable and critical than ever in the existing context.
Companies that have worked over the years to build strong FPF have discovered that they must adapt and build on their already solid foundation when they hit COVID-19. Flavia Miranda, Director of Strategy and Design at Total Rewards at Johnson and Johnson, said: “In line with our commitments to prioritize the fitness and well-being of our workers, we have moved temporarily to introduce new policies and benefits to help workers balance their day-to-day non-public and professional jobs and prioritize their emotional well-being. Intellectual and physical arrangement.
Beyond the attitude of an American multinational, classes learned abroad point to opportunities for local businesses and small businesses interested in caring for children during the pandemic and beyond. Rudaba Zehra Nasir, Global Leader of Employment and Child Care in the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) Economic and Gender Inclusion Group, cited Artistic Milliners, a denim manufacturer and exporter in Pakistan, as a correct example of a company that adapted its current child. childcare to satisfy the care wishes of a must-have staff in the community, following the recommendation included in the latest IFC publication, Childcare in the COVID-19 Era: A Guide for Employers. Multi-part childcare models are a solution to improve access for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with similar good luck stories also documented in the United States.
Patricia Cole, senior director of federal policy at Zero to Three, invited participants to believe what the national reaction to COVID-19 would have been like, especially for the most vulnerable, if national child care aid had already been implemented. As stakeholders increasingly learned the essential price of child care providers, Cole noted that “child and family-friendly policies will have to be the basis of our recovery [COVID-19],” which includes the passage of federal law. As Ms. Nasir said, “We cannot reopen economies without worrying about young people and their families, without being kind and compassionate to caregivers.”
Changing the previous prestige quo to COVID will also have to come with dismantling stereotypes and expanding opportunities for caregivers of all genders to provide young people from the beginning. As Carlos Javier-Gil, vice president of global brand of Dove Men-Care and co-chair of the parental leave working group, said, one of the task of the working group is to “provide resources to families and parents to enjoy the transformative effect of childcare and the benefits of childcare for men for gender equality at home.” Arrange in paintings and society.
While the new coronavirus presented significant challenges, it also highlighted positive opportunities to shape history in the long term. That is, the cultures of painting will have to be based on compassionate relationships between employers and painters, expand the understanding of what the life of paintings and groups of painters can and will seem, and affirm that the holistic well-being of painters, adding intellectual health, is a necessity. has for good business fortune and survival.
COVID-19, perhaps most importantly, has made it clear that FPF is not “pleasant”. These are issues of economic importance and resilience for families, businesses and governments. Better reconstruction requires cross-sectoral collaboration to reinvent a long term in which the wishes of each and every child are put at the forefront of the policies that parents execute in and out of the workplace.
Additional UNICEF Resources:
Additional resources for stakeholders:
Other tactics to act:
The UNICEF U.S. Children’s and Business Rights Team expresses its deepest gratitude to speakers and panelists for their continued participation and partnership for youth around the world.
Hanna Cody is a representative for children’s rights and business and advocacy at UNICEF USA, where she was in the past world citizenship fellow. In her current role, Hanna
Hanna Cody is a representative for children’s rights and business and advocacy at UNICEF USA, where she was in the past world citizenship fellow. In her current role, Hanna is running to promote family-friendly policies in the United States in coordination with corporate partners and global advocates. She is currently pursuing an MPA at Columbia University School of Public and International Affairs and has a B.A. studies at Rollins College.