April 26, is “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work” day. But the 20-year-old annual event may be losing relevance and declining in popularity due to a variety of factors.

Fewer parents are taking their kids to work because fewer people actually have jobs, and those who do don’t want to risk a child jeopardizing their work. Some parents are also reluctant to take kids out of school to see them work when they see already see Mom and Dad bring staggering workloads home.

Others, like Julie Drizin, director of the Journalism Center on Children and Families, said she wouldn’t be participating in the event and criticized it as something only the elite can afford to do. “I’ve come to believe that Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day is largely a feel-good exercise for the privileged,” she said.

Still, Carolyn McKecuen, president of the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day Foundation, said the event is still a good way to expose youngsters to the workplace. “The reason we started this has changed very little over the years,” she said. “It was designed to expose youth to what (their parents) do in their lives during the workday, and the demands and the possibilities in the workplace.”

 

 

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