Generally, the more time a child spends in substitute care, the greater the family's day care expenses. And the greater the day care expenses, the higher the family's tax benefits. If possible, businesses should give family-oriented workers significant discretion over how many hours they work each week and when and where work is performed. Emphasis should be given to encouraging flexible hours, part time work and job sharing, with special attention to home-based work. Businesses can work together with their employees to encourage family time, which will ultimately result in happier, more productive, and more loyal employees.
Families can also restructure their working lives to be more family friendly.
This way parents can spend more time with their children when their children are small and can work harder when the nest is empty. Sequencing requires discipline and self-sacrifice on the part of parents, however. It may require them to do more with less money when the children are small in order to spend more time with the kids. It also requires that the parents' employer be flexible enough to understand the needs of parents to spend time with children. Despite what some overworked parents may think, children want their parents' time most of all.