Rethinking Parental Leave During School Holidays: A New Normal for Inclusion & Equity

As equity, diversity & inclusion consultants (and working parents!) we know that school holiday gaps place working parents under extreme and often unseen pressure. Mothers in particular shoulder a disproportionate burden, leading to financial strain, career interruptions, and wellbeing impacts.

This challenge is not going to disappear any time soon - it's time employers treated parental leave during school holidays as a strategic inclusion issue, not an afterthought.

📌 Why this matters now

A recent HR Grapevine article highlights the scale of the challenge:

• 87% of parents face dramatically increased stress over the six‑week summer break,

• 26% take unpaid leave and 75% expect to use five days or more unpaid leave,

• Many lose two weeks’ pay or more,

• And almost half report feeling judged by non-parent colleagues, reinforcing a disproportionate impact on women.

  
  

These issues amplify structural gender inequities and undermine organisational inclusion, retention, and culture.

🚀 How employers can make leave fit the disruption, not the other way round

At A New Normal, our approach is rooted in equitable policy design, bias-mitigated leadership, and inclusive culture-building. Here's how organisations can apply these principles to school holiday leave:

Step	What you can do	What A New Normal offers
1. Define holiday-specific leave allowances	Introduce paid leave or designated flexibility explicitly for school holidays	Policy & process design consultancy to embed holiday-aware parental leave into your EDI framework
2. Default to flexibility	Offer optional remote working or term‑time scheduling in July–August for all staff	Inclusive leadership education + manager coaching via our Elevate programme to build supportive manager behaviours
3. Neutralise stigma around leave	Proactively encourage fathers and non-parents to participate in leave uptake to challenge gender assumptions	Bias awareness workshops and coaching to shift culture and unblock informal norms
4. Support childcare solutions	Partner with local holiday clubs or offer childcare stipends during school breaks	EDI strategy design that aligns structural supports with operational flexibility
5. Use data to drive change	Track leave uptake by gender, team, and outcomes on retention/productivity	Discovery & audit capability, including inclusive process design and impact measurement pathways

🌟 Business & cultural ROI

Taking these steps brings benefits across the board:

• Less burnout & stress → employees are healthier and more engaged,

• Stronger retention → especially among women returning post-parenthood,

• Improved gender equity → reducing career penalties linked to childcare gaps,

• Employer of choice status → inclusive policies attract top talent.

✅ Ready to lead the new normal?

Embracing equitable parental leave during school holidays is about simple but meaningful culture shift. And you don’t have to do it alone.

At A New Normal, we work hands-on with organisations to design policies, enable inclusive leadership, and embed EDI practice into every layer:

• Policy & process design for family‑friendly parental leave infrastructure

• Inclusive leadership coaching to equip managers and people leaders

• Discovery audits & strategy design to ensure change is measurable and sustainable

• Training & facilitation to normalise leave uptake across genders

👉 Get in touch with our team at A New Normal to explore how we can support you in creating inclusive, gender-equitable workplace solutions that value parental needs across school holidays. Email us at hello@anewnormal.co or call 07894 709 548 to start the conversation.

Together, we can build a new normal where work adapts to real life, not the other way around.