Worcester Business Journal

14 Worcester Business Journal | March 23, 2026 | wbjournal.com BY MICA KANNER-MASCOLO WBJ Staff Writer A s more women delay or forgo having children, some say workplaces as- sume child-free employees have fewer obligations outside the office, leaving them with heavier workloads and fewer boundar- ies than their parenting peers. In 2024, 85% of women ages 20 to 24 did not have children, a five-percent- age-point increase from a decade earlier, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. e shi continues among older age groups: 63% of women ages 25 to 29 were childless in 2024, up from 50% in 2014, while 40% of women ages 30 to 34 have no children, compared with 29% a decade earlier. As more women build careers with- out children, some say their free time is oen treated as more flexible than that of colleagues with families, creating an assumption they can take on additional work. "ere is an assumption that they are simply free, that they have no respon- sibilities, and therefore they don't need to be asked," said Val- erie Zolezzi-Wyn- dham, CEO of Promoting Good, an equity-based leadership con- sulting firm in Worcester. A 2022 ResumeLab study found 74% of respondents believe child-free em- ployees are expected to work more over- time, stay later when coworkers need to care for children, and are generally viewed as more available because they do not have kids. "I don't think it's anything that comes out of meanness. I think when you are a person who's seemingly bucking a tradition, folks [are] curious about it and maybe not understand it," said Elizabeth Wambui, director of diver- sity, inclusion, and community impact at construction firm Fontaine Bros., which is headquartered in Springfield and Worcester. Both working mothers and child-free employees face real challenges, said Julie Bowditch, executive director of CASA Project Worcester County. Yet, because parenthood is more visible, workplace biases around child-free women are discussed far less oen. Instead of assuming that child-free workers have the inherent ability to take on more assignments, attend aer-work events, or go on work trips, employers should cast a wider net and simply ask who has the capacity for assignments, said Erin Jansky, chief human resourc- es officer at Worcester-based Webster First Federal Credit Union. Instead of relying on certain employ- ees to pick up extra work, companies should prioritize equitable workloads, Jansky said. Divide in expectations Early in her career, attorney AiVi Nguyen let her mentors know she wasn't planning on having children, which she said helped propel her on the partner track, a privilege not afforded to many mothers. "It's not a department that women have traditionally survived in, because traditionally, most women have kids," said Nguyen, who is now a partner in the Worcester office of Boston law firm Prince Lobel Tye. "at's a very unpop- ular thing to say, but that's facts." In 2023, women made up 28% of law firm partners in the U.S. and 24% of equity partners, according to the Amer- ican Bar Association. "In real life, the ideal employee is one who is not tied down to anything, not tied down to any other responsibilities," said Nguyen. As Bowditch advanced in her career and more of her peers had children, she could sense a gap forming. "I just could really feel that strong, strong, strong divide of that expectation showing up differently," said Bowditch. "You could just tell that there were different expectations." For Wambui, that meant being asked to take on additional projects, join extra committees, and represent her work- place more at events. "You run yourself down and then you feel guilty that you can't ask for time be- cause there's too much to do," she said. What employers oen don't un- PHOTO | MATT WRIGHT Child-free at work Women who are forgoing motherhood say they battle hidden biases in the workplace (From left) Juile Bowditch, executive director of CASA Project Worcester County; Elizabeth Wambui, director of diversity, inclusion, and community impact at Fontaine Bros.; AiVi Nguyen, partner at Prince Lobel Tye; and Erin Jansky, chief human resources officer at Webster First Federal Credit Union; all child-free by choice, they've experience first-hand the misconceptions of child-free women in the workplace. F O C U S WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP Valerie Zolezzi- Wyndham, CEO of Promoting Good

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