While this pandemic has made the need for child-care benefits more acute, workers at companies that offer them are often afraid of using them out of fear they will be penalized or even fired, reported CNBC. Out of a sample of 1,000 working parents with school-age children, 42 percent said they were afraid that if they used the benefits awarded to them, such as increased paid time off or flexible work hours, their jobs would be at risk; 39 percent were more sure, saying they would be fired if they took advantage of benefits.

While the survey did not mention reasons why they were afraid, studies have found that workers are indeed penalized for taking advantage of certain benefits to which they are legally entitled. A big example is maternity leave. While, technically, a company might offer maternity leave, numerous studies have shown it can be deleterious to women's career advancements.

A U.K. study based on interviews with 3,034 employers and 3,254 mothers found that 11 percent of mothers were either dismissed, made compulsorily redundant where others in their workplace were not, or treated so poorly they felt they had to leave their job. One in five said that they experienced harassment or negative comments from either their employers or their colleagues related to pregnancy or flexible working. One in 10 said their employer discouraged them from attending medical appointments during pregnancy. The same study also found that a third of employers believe that women who become pregnant, as well as new mothers, are generally less interested in career progression, and 41 percent of employers agreed that pregnancy in the workplace puts an unnecessary cost burden on the company.

Another study found that the more maternity leave a woman takes, the less her earning power over her lifetime: Women who take more than two years off for leave over the course of their lifetimes will lose 18 percent of their earning power, and if they take three years of, that figure increases to 38 percent (taking two leaves of six months each, though, seemed to have little effect).

Such penalties can be applied to those taking non-family related benefits as well. A survey from 2015 found that 13 percent of managers said they would be less likely to promote someone who uses all of their legally alloted vacation days.