It’s exciting to grow your family with a cute, new little human, but it can also be difficult to manage a good work-life balance.
Becoming a parent can be daunting, especially for Canadians who work full-time.
Yes, it’s exciting to grow your family with a cute, new little human, but it can also be difficult to balance life and work.
Depending on where you live, being a parent with a full-time job might be easier compared to other countries.
HR and employment tool Remote conducted a study assessing 20 of the world’s leading countries against “key statutory and cultural factors that speak to the quality of parental life-work balance in these regions.”
So, where does Canada rank on that list? According to the study, it is not as high as you might think.
The True North took 17th place among the leading countries for parental life-work balance, making North America one of the most poorly performing continents in terms of supporting working parents.
Remote says this is due to the high childcare costs, low statutory parental leave, and annual leave requirements in Canada and the US, which placed 20th.
If you’re looking for the best work-life balance as a parent, Scandinavian countries are your top choice.
Remote
The study assessed the quality of parental life-work balance in 20 leading countries by analyzing several factors impacting working parents the most to give a score out of 100, including parental leave, annual leave entitlement, childcare costs, and access to healthcare.
Norway took the top spot for the most family-friendly work environment, scoring 79.67 out of 100 with 33 days of statutory annual leave for parents.
“In addition to one of the most generous parental leave policies worldwide (working mums are offered 54 weeks of paid maternity leave), Norway also spends more than many other nations on family benefits,” states Remote about the highest-scoring country. “And while the country has a very high comparable cost of living, it boasts a universal healthcare system and a relatively ample annual leave entitlement.”
In second place, Sweden has some of the best childcare overall. Per Remote, the country spends more of its GDP on pre-primary education than any other nation while also setting very affordable childcare costs.
“[Sweden] also has a strong commitment to gender equality in its parental leave policies, becoming the first nation to introduce gender-neutral parental leave in 1974,” the report reads.
Denmark stood in third place with some awesome labour laws.
“Life-work balance is a foundation of Danish culture, with the Danes enjoying a generous statutory annual leave entitlement. The country is also considered one of the safest places for families, while public expenditure on childcare, family benefits, and pre-primary education is higher than most other nations,” states Remote.
Barbara Matthews, chief people officer at Remote, believes employers and decision-makers must recognize parents’ rights in the workplace.
“Working parents make up a large proportion of the active global workforce, with it being thought they account for 34.52% of the workforce in English-speaking countries. Therefore, quality parental support packages are crucial for attracting and maintaining top talent.”
You can read the full ranking here.
This article was originally published on May 14, 2024. It has since been updated.