Tell us if you’ve been here before: An employee announces the imminent arrival of a new baby, expresses every intention of returning to work after their maternity, paternity, or parental leave, and then…
That new parent (usually, a new mom) quits their job.
This is far from an anomaly. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, only 68% of mothers with children under age 6 were working in 2025, compared with 78.2% of mothers whose youngest child was between the ages of 6 to 17. What’s more, the overall labor force participation rate for mothers saw its first year-over-year drop since 2022 dipping to 73.9%.
In this article, we’ll explore why new parents—new moms, especially—never come back from parental or maternity leave, and what you can do to make your business more attractive to new parents.
Why new parents don’t return to work after welcoming a new baby
Losing any employee to turnover is both destabilizing and expensive. According to a 2026 survey conducted by The Job Insights, the average cost of turnover for U.S. employers rose by almost $10,000 per employee in just one year, from $36,723 to $45,236.
Those numbers feel even larger considering how much of today’s turnover is preventable. The Work Institute’s 2025 Retention Report found that 76% of employees left their jobs for entirely preventable reasons (12.4% of them being family or health related). Employers owe it to themselves to try to retain top talent—but before we talk about how they can hold onto parents, let’s look at why they’re losing them.
They feel burdened by increased responsibilities and stress
Let’s face it: It’s never been harder for parents to find work-life balance. Today’s parents face increased pressure to make sure their kids are emotionally regulated, staying off screens and away from harmful online communities, academically successful, and participating in the right extra-curricular activities. It’s a round-the-clock endeavor, and there is no shortage of evidence pointing to the burnout that today’s parents feel in trying to be the perfect parent.
What Psychology Today refers to as the “invisible weight” of modern parenting only gets heavier for working parents. Gallup's State of the Global Workplace 2026 found that, relative to their global counterparts, North American workers experience the highest daily stress level at work, with 50% of workers reporting significant stress levels.
For working parents, that level of stress increases as the boundaries between work and family responsibilities blur. A 2026 Pew Research Center report found that 70% of U.S. parents who work full-time take care of parenting-related tasks while they’re working, and 59% of them do work-related tasks while they care for their children. Additionally, 54% of them report that it’s difficult to balance these two competing responsibilities.
Considering the combined stress of being a parent with participating in today’s workforce, it’s no wonder some parents choose to simplify their lives by opting out of the workforce entirely, at least temporarily.
They can’t justify the high cost of childcare
According to a 2025 survey cited by Gusto, 9 in 10 US adults reported feeling some type of financial stress at the start of 2026. For working parents who rely on childcare, that stress can feel even more acute. In 2025, The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) reported that the cost of childcare for one infant is now more expensive than public college tuition in 38 states and Washington, D.C.
What’s more, that same EPI analysis found that no state meets the federal affordability benchmark (childcare costing no more than 7% of family income) for center-based infant care, with monthly infant care costs ranging from $521 in Mississippi to $1,893 in Washington, D.C. Instead, most U.S. families are spending 20% or more of their household income on childcare.
The message is clear: for some parents, coming back to work after welcoming a new baby just doesn’t make financial sense. But that doesn’t mean they should be considered lost causes. Instead, employers should focus on what they can do to ease the burden on parents and make work-life balance possible.
Save hours and headaches on HR tasks.
1. Offer meaningful maternity and paternity benefits.
The first and most important thing you can do is make your business appealing to people who are thinking about having kids. Offering paid parental leave beyond your federal and state requirements is the best way to keep employees (and potential employees) happy when the big day comes.
Studies (like this one from Rutgers) show that parents across the board are opting in to paid family leave more than ever: between 2000 and 2024, enrollment in paid paternity leave increased from 29% to 58%, while enrollment in paid maternity leave also increased, from 47% to 54%.
The fact is, very few moms want to return to work a few weeks after giving birth (not to mention that by doing so, many would be going against the advice of their doctors), so think about what you can do to extend leaves. Generally, if you’re running a business that has had 50 or more employees for at least 20 weeks in the last couple years, you have to grant 12 weeks of unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). (Note: if you’re running a school, you always have to offer this leave).
Employees qualify for leave if they meet these criteria:
They work within 75 miles of at least 50 people on your team.
They’ve been at your company for at least 12 months.
During those 12 months, they have worked at least 1,250 hours.
Remember, under the FMLA, any parent can take leave, although if the two parents work for the same company, you only have to grant 12 weeks total, not 24. This also applies to adoptive parents and foster parents.
At a minimum, you should create an official company parental leave policy that clearly states the family benefits you offer and is inclusive, equitable, flexible, and easy for your employees to understand.
2. Let parents ease back into work.
Family needs vary widely in the early days of parenthood. And while FMLA doesn’t require you to allow intermittent leave for child bonding, it can be recommended to let new parents work part time for a while. Or permanently. Flexible work schedules can make a hugely positive impact on employee engagement for new parents, not to mention overall workplace culture.
According to a 2026 Pew Research Center report, 79% of parents who work part time are mothers. This is likely due to the increased flexibility of part time work. Of the parents surveyed for this report, 41% of part time working parents cited more flexibility to choose when they work, compared with 26% of full time working parents.
Often, people think part time work should just be low-wage work, but it doesn’t have to be. Many professional jobs can be done on a part time or job-sharing basis.
3. Have set schedules.
If you make a part time job option available, you’ll attract a lot of parents who are looking for the best of both worlds.
For jobs that are based on shifts, like retail or restaurant positions, setting a predictable schedule can make work a lot easier on new parents. Why? Because it’s really difficult to arrange childcare if you don’t know when you’ll be working every week.
Steer clear of unpredictable shift schedules by:
Including the right mix of skills in a single shift. If you need both a cashier and a host during the lunch rush, make sure you’ve scheduled those two roles ahead of time to avoid any last-minute calls.
Adding more people during the busy times. Whether it’s a performance or the holidays, know when you’ll actually need an extra set of hands.
4. Help with childcare.
Childcare is ridiculously pricey (remember, often more expensive than college tuition!) and in some areas, it’s also very difficult to find.
Full childcare subsidies may be out of reach for most small businesses, but a Dependent Care Flexible Savings Account is a realistic middle ground — it lets parents pay for daycare with pre-tax dollars, at no direct cost to you. Parents can also use it to pay for the following things:
Elder care
Summer camp
After-school care
And other types of care situations
As of January 1, 2026, the contribution limit for American families increased to $7,500 total (so long as the employer has amended their plan accordingly), so consider raising your DCFSA limit to the new $7,500 cap. Additionally, you can dial up nearby daycares and try to get priority for your employees’ children.
Save hours and headaches on HR tasks.
5. Be flexible, but not too flexible.
Yes, it’s important to offer policies and flexible work arrangements that keep your new parents onboard, but it’s also important to keep all your employees happy. Sometimes businesses make the mistake of bending over backwards to give new parents the best schedule, the first choice for holidays, and an easy out for needed overtime work. This is a considerate thing to do, but it can also breed resentment among the other staff members.
Whatever policies you implement should be accessible to all types of employees—not just the new parents. Remember that non-parents can enjoy the benefits of things like flexible PTO and consistent schedules just as much as parents.
Overall, focus on being a great employer for everyone.
That’s really what it comes down to. If your company has thoughtful management, a company culture that supports working parents, fair policies, and market rate pay, you’ll be in a much better position to keep all talented employees—new parents or not.
FAQs
What's the difference between FMLA leave and paid parental leave?
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) only guarantees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for eligible employees at companies with 50 or more employees. Paid parental leave is a separate, voluntary benefit employers choose to offer on top of (or instead of) FMLA, replacing some or all lost wages during that time. FMLA is a legal floor, while paid leave policies offer a competitive benefit on top of it.
Do part time employees still qualify for health insurance benefits?
Not automatically—it depends on hours worked. Under the Affordable Care Act, employers with 50 or more full-time-equivalent employees are only required to offer health insurance to employees who work an average of 30 or more hours a week. Part time employees below that threshold aren't legally entitled to coverage, though employers can choose to extend it anyway as a retention tool.
Is a Dependent Care FSA the same as the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit?
No, these are two separate tax benefits, and the same care expenses generally can't be used for both. A Dependent Care FSA lets employees set aside pre-tax payroll dollars (up to $7,500 in 2026) for care costs, while the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit is claimed on a tax return. Which one saves a family more depends on their income and tax bracket.
Can an employer require an employee to repay leave costs if they don't return to work?
Yes, under specific conditions. Federal regulations allow an employer to recover its share of health insurance premiums paid during unpaid FMLA leave if an employee doesn't return afterward, unless the reason is a serious health condition or another circumstance beyond the employee's control. An employee who returns to work for at least 30 days is protected from this recovery.
Save hours and headaches on HR tasks.
Does offering part time or flexible schedules to new parents hurt team productivity?
Not necessarily. Many professional roles can run effectively on a part time or job-share basis, and predictable scheduling tends to reduce the last-minute callouts and turnover that actually disrupt productivity. The bigger risk to team morale, employee retention, and employee engagement isn't flexibility itself, it's applying that flexibility unevenly in ways that favor one group of employees over others.
