New Census data reveals a substantial increase in the proportion of young, never married adults in their mid-20´s and early 30´s. The Census Bureau found that since 1970, the proportion of young American women who had never married doubled for those 20 to 24 (from 36% to 73%), and more than tripled for those 30 to 34 (from 6 % to 22%). In fact, the Census Bureau predicts that after 2005, the most common type of households will be single people and married couples without children.
With the demand for talented workers --- especially the young, high-flyers --- remaining strong, organizations need to evaluate their work/life programs to make sure they are providing something for everyone. Employers should ask themselves:
Do we allow a working parent to take time off for a child´s soccer game, while denying a single worker comparable time to prepare for a marathon?
Do we assume that single, childless employees are available to work nights, weekends, and holidays? Do we assume they are able to readily travel for work?
Do we offer flextime only to working parents, expecting our single employees to be able to work on any schedule?
Does our resource and referral network focus on dependent care issues or does it offer information that is valuable to all employees?
Perhaps more than any other alternative, making sure that your resource and referral network addresses a wide array of life issues is an efficient and effective way to offer meaningful work/life benefits to all employees.
Work|Life
Benefits mourns the loss of Christopher C. Newton, our President and CEO, who
died Tuesday, September 11, aboard American Airlines Flight 77, one of many
innocent victims of that day''s terrorist attacks. He was 38.
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