Childless, Holidays, Boundaries & Belonging: Navigating Workplace Equity

Katy Schnitzler returns to The Full Stop five years on — now fresh off submitting her PhD — to dig into one of the thorniest workplace issues for people who are childless not by choice: holidays, leave, and boundaries. The conversation moves from the personal (the strange non-celebration of finishing a PhD, the "full stop" feeling of an ending without ceremony) into the structural: school-holiday leave bias, rota and shift unfairness, "informal favours" for parents, and the particular pressures faced by teachers, midwives and nurses who are childless. Katy shares findings from her doctoral research and her Pronatalism at Work project, and the group works through practical, non-judgemental ways organisations can make leave, language and culture fairer for everyone, without taking anything away from parents. We're talking about ...

• Holiday and school-term leave bias against childless employees
• "Informal favours," rota unfairness and the assumption that childless staff have nothing to rush home for
• Teaching, midwifery and nursing as flashpoints for childless professionals
• Ambiguous and disenfranchised grief — why childlessness grief isn't always recognised, even by therapists
• Pronatalism in the workplace: baby showers, scan photos, "doing it for the kids" culture
• The intersection of childlessness with disability, chronic illness, singleness and bereavement
• Practical, low-cost fixes: transparent leave/booking systems, anonymous feedback, external training, first-come-first-served leave policies

• Holidays are emotionally loaded for people without children — naming that openly (without banning the topic) helps everyone.
• "Gentle challenge" responses ("that's not always how it feels") put the work back on the person making assumptions, not the person experiencing them.
• Transparent, first-come-first-served leave systems can remove parental status from the equation entirely.
• Anonymous feedback on workload and leave can surface disparities before they become resentment.
• External, MIST training takes the emotional load off the person going through it — they don't have to "out" themselves to get change.
• This isn't bashing parents. It's about making space at the table for everyone's story.

Katy Schnitzler — academic and corporate trainer specialising in reproductive health and childlessness (pregnancy loss, infertility, menstrual health, menopause). Founder of MIST Workshops (est. 2020), and author of doctoral research including the Pronatalism at Work project.

We cover a lot of ground, from anticipatory grief and adoption to the specific dynamics of shift work, IVF and rota fairness.

• Learn about the Full Stop on our website and donate to our work at KOFI
• Childless people are invited to join the Full Stop Community for support, episode discussion and conversation.
• Learn more about Katy’s work and book training for your organisation at MIST Workshops.

The Full Stop is a podcast for people who are childless not by choice, and for everyone who loves, works alongside, or supports someone who is. New episodes drop regularly — subscribe wherever you listen.