Mothers are often forced to reduce their working hours or leave employment when a child has cancer. Here’s why South Africa needs better caregiver support.
South Africa (26 August 2026) – When a child is diagnosed with cancer, a family’s entire world can change overnight. Hospital appointments, chemotherapy cycles, specialist consultations and long periods of recovery suddenly become part of everyday life, while parents try to navigate an entirely new reality. And while their focus is understandably on helping their child get better, there is another question that doesn’t disappear simply because their child is sick: who is going to work?
Research following families of children with cancer found that mothers were twice as likely as fathers to change their employment during their child’s treatment. More than half reduced their working hours, while around a quarter left their jobs altogether. It is a stark reminder that childhood cancer doesn’t only affect a child’s health. It can also affect a family’s financial security, a parent’s career and their ability to earn an income at precisely the moment they may need it most.
South Africa already has provisions for maternity, paternity, parental and family responsibility leave, but little specifically addresses the reality of a parent whose child needs months of hospital admissions, chemotherapy, appointments and ongoing care.
Palesa Mokomele, Head of Community Engagement and Communications at DKMS Africa, says that needs to change.
“Support for women cannot begin and end in August. South Africa needs a caregiver-support framework that protects employment, income and mental wellbeing throughout the full healthcare journey, while also enabling men to take an equal share of the responsibility.”
The treatment journey doesn’t fit neatly into leave
Through her work with patients affected by blood cancer and blood disorders, Mokomele sees how long that healthcare journey can become. A child may spend months waiting for a matching stem cell donor while treatment, hospital visits and caregiving continue. When a match is found, the family still faces medical preparation, an extended hospital stay, the transplant itself and months of recovery.
Parents may need to manage medication, maintain strict infection precautions, attend follow-up appointments and be prepared for the possibility of readmission. For someone trying to maintain a job at the same time, that can become an almost impossible balancing act.
The pressure can be particularly intense for single parents and sole breadwinners. A single mother may be both the only caregiver and the only person earning an income, meaning that stepping away from work can put the entire household’s financial security at risk.
“A single mother may be both the only caregiver and the only income earner. When she leaves work, the household loses the money it needs for food, rent, transport, electricity and school fees at exactly the point when healthcare costs are climbing,” Mokomele says.
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Mokomele is calling for a national caregiver-support framework that complements existing leave provisions. This could include critical-illness caregiver leave that allows parents to take intermittent time off for treatment and appointments, as well as longer protected leave during hospitalisation and recovery.
She also believes families need partial income protection during extended caregiving, protection against unfair dismissal or career penalties, individual caregiver-leave provisions for both parents, and additional protection for single parents and sole breadwinners. Flexible working arrangements and phased returns to work could also help parents remain connected to their careers while caring for their children.
Employers, too, need practical guidance. Mokomele is calling for a national code of good practice around serious illness and caregiving, supported by model workplace policies and training for HR professionals and managers. This could help workplaces better navigate flexible working, confidentiality, reasonable accommodation and structured returns to work.
As Women’s Month comes to an end, the call is for the conversation to continue throughout the year. Caregiving is not simply a private family matter. It is a labour, economic and gender-equality issue that affects families across South Africa.
“Supporting caregivers should not depend on the discretion of an individual employer or manager. It requires a coordinated national framework that protects families throughout the year.”
Because when a child is fighting cancer, parents should be able to focus on helping them get better without having to fight another battle just to keep their job.
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