Parental Privilege or a More Inclusive Workplace?

Sorry to hear about your back, Dina. Here's hoping that some good R&R over the weekend puts you back on track.

Saw an article on Fast Company's site that really got me thinking. Called Women With Children First?, it talks about a growing feeling in the workplace that parents are somehow putting an unfair burden on already overworked colleagues by making their colleagues pick up the slack when they can't work as many hours and take on as much responsibility as the others. This article is especially timely for me as I've just requested and been granted a 4-day work week. After almost a year of working full time, then going home to my second role as mom of 2 small kids, it finally hit me smack in the face that I just can't do it all. I decided that my family life had to take precedence over my work and that even if it meant less possibility of advancement, lower wage increases, etc., that was the choice I had to make. (I'm fully aware here that I'm priviliged enough financially to be able to make this choice and that many women don't have this option.) But now, I read that in making this choice, I'm putting undue hardship on my colleagues who may resent the "privileges" I'm enjoying.

I've been on both sides now and I remember in my twenties feeling as if my thirty-something colleagues with kids were somehow being given unfair advantage because they were parents, and that they were not always pulling their weight. The article talks to people on both sides and also talks to a dad who was not given much leeway for parental responsibilities because he was a man. I was just wondering about how other people feel about this. Do you feel parents in the workplace are given special privileges and are they merited? Do parents in general pull their weight as employees or are they the "lightweights" on the team? I'd appreciate hearing about your experiences and opinions...