Working Mothers 'Regularly Send Sick Children to School'

From the archive: first published September 20, 2011, reporting a UK survey. One caveat: the poll was commissioned by Haliborange, a children's vitamin brand — whose spokeswoman's quotes in the coverage conveniently recommended multivitamins. Read the numbers with that in mind.

Four out of ten employed mothers had sent a child to school when he or she was unwell because they felt unable to take the day off, according to a survey of 2,000 working mothers.

The findings painted a familiar picture of the working-parent juggle: about one in six mothers said they had been made to feel guilty by their boss after taking time off for a sick child; one in ten said they'd received a written warning; 27 percent said they worried they would lose their job if they took too much time off to care for their kids; and 34 percent said they lost pay when they did take a day off.

A striking 80 percent said people don't understand how hard it is to juggle work and a sick child. Nearly a quarter said they would rather send a sick child to school and wait for the call to collect them than automatically take the day off.

And the responsibility, the survey found, still fell overwhelmingly on mothers: respondents said they were "expected" to take the time off rather than the father staying home.

The survey was reported by the Daily Mail, and the brand-sponsored context matters — the vitamin company's spokeswoman used the findings to plug children's multivitamins for "immune system" support. But strip away the sales pitch, and the core finding rings true: for working mothers, a sick child isn't just a worry at home — it's a calculation at work, made under pressure, with real consequences for getting it wrong.