Committed Parents Make Better Employees

Job Stress: Parental commitment actually helps people perform more effectively at work, according to researchers at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. The finding “contradicts conventional wisdom that parents are easily distracted by their responsibilities at home—in particular their children—and therefore are more likely to be ineffective at work.” Instead, people who balance the demands of children and running a household seem better able to handle stress, and are more likely to use their child-rearing experiences to develop new skills at work, such as teamwork, understanding others’ points of view, and time management.