[tpm]

> employers make termination decisions based on family structure

There might be a misunderstanding. The employer usually does not know about your family structure; the only place that really has to know about that is the wage department to calculate your taxes etc. (even though in some countries you can do that yourself if you are a very private person, but in that case you are more likely to be self-employed anyway). Of course if you want to claim days out of work, paid or not, to care for the children or a parent, the employer might want to know if the children are real.

> costs (medical bills? caring for a parent?)

Medical bills?

[em-bee]

The employer usually does not know about your family structure

when i need to let go people from my company because i need to downsize for whatever reason i need to choose those who would be least affected. that means i need to know who is single, married, or has children. because if i let go the one who is a parent instead of someone who is single, they might sue me because it would cause them undue hardship, if say finding a new job would force them to move which would affect the other parents job and also the kids school. and their whole social life.

sometimes this can't be avoided. if all my employees have families and children then i am stuck. but if there is a choice, then the choice must be the person who is more likely to recover, or who has less dependents. the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

long story short, i have to know the family structure to make that choice.

[apparent]

What country are you in?

And when you say "I need to know" do you mean you want to know, or you are legally compelled to make decisions based on these criteria?

Why do you fear lawsuits from parents as opposed to single people? Are there grounds for a lawsuit that involve whether someone is a parent?