While workplaces are generally adult environments, they affect the children of parents who work outside the home as well as young people who have entered the workforce. Parents often have concerns about the availability and quality of childcare services. Many also have concerns about balancing and integrating their work and family lives.

It is important for parents to be available for their children when they need their support and care (e.g., for special school events or when children are sick), and for children to understand and feel connected to their parents’ work lives.

Most youth are eager to start working and to have a job, and many begin some form of employment while in their early or mid-teens. Key issues for youth starting out in the workforce relate to how well they are able to balance their home responsibilities and school work with part-time or full-time work, as well as the need for proactive monitoring and enforcement of employment rights and safety protections in the workplace due to their greater vulneratbility.

Child and youth friendly workplaces address the needs of parents, young employees and families as a whole, through supportive policies, programs and practices.