Workplace and Business Network Equity for People Who Are Childless
Every summer, the same imbalance plays out in offices, shop floors, wards and classrooms. Leave gets allocated. Rotas get filled. And somewhere along the way, there’s an unspoken assumption which takes hold: that people without children don't need (or deserve) the same consideration when it comes to time off.
Business networks may take a break, or the social feed will switch to juggling childcare and clients. That’s not the experience for everyone. Many people who are not parents may work for themselves because they’ve had poor experiences in workplaces.
In Episode 87, Katy Schnitzler, academic, corporate trainer, and founder of MIST Workshops — returns to the Full Stop podcast five years after her first appearance to unpack exactly how this happens in workplaces, and more importantly, what can be done about it. This blog post features helpful advice for people who are childless, childfree, those who work with them, and for business groups.
It’s Not About Logistics
It's tempting to think of leave and holiday allocation as a purely practical scheduling issue. Whoever has the most pressing need gets priority, and school-term dates are the most pressing need of all, right?
But as Katy explains, drawing on her doctoral research and her ongoing Pronatalism at Work project, this framing misses out something important: holidays are emotionally loaded for people without children too.
Childless colleagues are routinely handed "the rubbish shifts." They're informally expected to cover for colleagues' school-holiday plans. In some cases, they're told outright that they don't have the same claim on time off, because, as one contributor to Katy's project put it, "you don't have anywhere to be."
What makes this particularly hard to challenge is that the grief and stress underneath it often isn't recognised by colleagues, HR or managers, and sometimes not even by therapists trained to spot it. Katy describes this as a form of disenfranchised, ambiguous grief: a loss with no funeral, no photographs, no socially sanctioned way to say "this is hard."
What Actually Helps
Action points for line managers
Avoid opening meetings with "how's everyone juggling the holidays?" as it assumes parenthood as default and puts colleagues without children in an awkward, exposed position.
Watch the informal favours. If parents get first pick on Christmas plays or school holidays "just this once," that pattern compounds. Make leave requests visible and consistent for everyone.
Check who's getting the bad shifts. Night shifts, weekends, and rota gaps shouldn't default to "the people without kids." Review rota patterns for bias every few months. Family isn’t only children.
Rehearse a response of your own. If a team member discloses they're struggling with grief, infertility, or childlessness, you don't need perfect words. But don't minimise it or rush to fix it. "Thank you for telling me, how can I support you?" goes a long way, as does honouring the agreement.
Action points for HR teams
Audit leave and flexibility policies for parental-status bias. Ask: is flexible working automatically granted to parents but treated as a special request for everyone else? Are you grouping carers and parents together when stats show the childless and childfree people are more likely to care for unwell and ageing loved ones?
Introduce a transparent, first-come-first-served leave booking system where possible — it takes parental status out of the equation entirely.
Run an anonymous feedback survey on workload and leave fairness. Simple, low-cost, and surfaces disparities before they become resentment or attrition.
Train managers specifically on family-status inclusion which is not just parental leave, but pregnancy loss, infertility, menopause, and childlessness as a recognised (if often invisible) part of EDIB (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging)
Bring in external, specialist training rather than relying on affected employees to educate colleagues themselves. MIST Workshops are run by Katy Schnitzler offering corporate training on reproductive health, infertility, pregnancy loss, menopause, and childlessness in the workplace. Because it's externally led, no one has to "out" themselves to get the conversation started.
Support World Childless Week in your workplace and on your event calendars.
Action points for business networks & network event organisers
Don't assume your audience has children. Ditch default language like "for the school holidays" or "as a busy parent" in event invites, intros, and small talk framing. Not everyone in the room is juggling childcare, and assuming they are can be just as isolating as ignoring those who are.
Be transparent about summer breaks, rather than silent. If the network is quieter or pausing over summer, say so clearly and explain why (e.g. "many of our members have caring responsibilities over the holidays, so we're running a lighter schedule") — rather than letting members assume they're simply being left out or forgotten.
Check in with members who might feel out of step over summer. A simple "we know summer can be a strange time for networking — here's what's still running, and we'd love to see you" goes a long way for people who don't have school-holiday plans dictating their summer.
Avoid framing networking value purely around family logistics. "Doing it for the kids" branding, content, or chat threads (however well-meant) quietly signal who the network is really for. Make sure events, content and small talk reflect a range of reasons people are in business which also includes caring for others, building something for themselves, or simply because they love the work.
Diversify who's centred in case studies, speaker line-ups and testimonials. If every story shared is "I built this business around my children," childless members start to feel like guests rather than members. Actively seek out and platform different stories.
Offer a way to flag discomfort without singling anyone out. An anonymous suggestion box or feedback form for "things that would make our events feel more inclusive" lets members raise this without having to disclose anything personal.
Watch the small talk at events, not just the official programme. A lot of the "are you all juggling the holidays?" type comments happen informally — at registration desks, over coffee, in breakout groups. Brief facilitators or hosts to be mindful of defaulting to parent-assumed chat openers and bias in talks.
Consider a session or content slot on this topic itself. A short panel or article normalises the conversation rather than leaving it unspoken. Chat with Katy or the Full Stop team.
Crucially, none of this is about taking anything away from parents. As host Berenice puts it in the episode, "it's adding to the richness of the conversation, and seeing people as individuals." The goal isn't a different set of winners and losers. It's creating a space where everyone's situation gets a seat at the table.
Listen to the Full Conversation
We cover a lot of ground, from anticipatory grief and adoption to the specific dynamics of shift work, IVF and rota fairness.
Listen to Episode 87 wherever you get your podcasts.
Childless people are invited to join the Full Stop Community for support, episode discussion and conversation.
Learn more about Katy's work and book training for your organisation at MIST Workshops.
The Full Stop is a podcast for people who are childless not by choice, and for everyone who loves, works alongside, or supports someone who is. New episodes drop regularly — subscribe wherever you listen.
