Are you working or worrying about your kids?

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BOB MOON: If you’re a parent, you worry. That’s your job. But it’s also interfering with your other job: putting food on the table. Now there’s a report that warns that’s costing American businesses. From the Work and Family Desk, Hillary Wicai reports.

HILLARY WICAI: A new survey of employees at several Fortune 100 companies shows working parents of kids in grades 6-12 especially stress about the safety and reliability of the after-school arrangements they’ve made for their kids.

Brandeis University and the research organization Catalyst cite estimates that workplace stress can cost U.S. companies $50 to $300 billion each year. Nancy Carter is with Catalyst.

NANCY CARTER: This is a source of worker lost productivity that organizations can directly impact and they can do it in ways that are not costly to the company.

One way is for companies to give employees more control over their work schedule. Another is to encourage managers to be more understanding.

In Washington, I’m Hillary Wicai for Marketplace.