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The Sloan Work and Family Research Network today released an action plan generated from a panel meeting in May on Work-Family Issues for Employed Parents of Children with Disabilities. The Sloan Network hosts an annual think tank to promote active discussion and examine current research efforts, workplace best practices, and state public policy for important work-family issues.

To address the serious hardships faced by working parents caring for children with disabilities, the report makes two major recommendations: (1) Advance the knowledge base by conducting more extensive research, and (2) Increase the visibility of this issue for employers, policy makers, and the public. Given that one in seven children under age 18, or approximately 10.2 million children in the U.S., have special health care needs, the panel is pushing for additional research to increase understanding about the myriad issues experienced by working parents and their families. This panel urged the launching of a media campaign to inform employers, policy makers, and the public about the often-hidden issues facing working parents caring for children with disabilities.

The financial, physical, and emotional impact on parents, children, families, employees, and employers is staggering:

• Median household income is $38,332, compared to $48,936 for households raising children without disabilities, a $100 billion discrepancy in total earnings.

• Nearly 14% of parents caring for children with special health care needs spend more than 10 hours per week coordinating care, which can negatively affect their careers.

• Twenty-five percent of workers have chosen to cut back or stop working entirely, and one-quarter have been fired at least once due to the exceptional care demands of their children with disabilities.

Below are some new Network resources on Work-Family Issues for Employed Parents of Children with Disabilities:

1. Topic Page for Parents Caring for Children with Disabilities

2) Fact Sheet - compilation of statistics in a question and answer format

3) Encyclopedia Entry - Disabilities and Work-Family Challenges: Parents Having Children with Special Health Care Needs (2008)

What can be done to support working parents caring for children with disabilities? Are you or do you know families struggling with these issues? Will these resources help you in your work?

• Child Care , Dependent Care , Mothers and Fathers