Future & Family: Why You Should Care About Fair Paterental Leave Policies – Help Close the Gender Wage Gap!

https://youtu.be/BjnPSF4kLdM

Did I get your attention? I put myself out there, now I hope you do too and do your part to help close the gap! I’ve gotten a few questions, Nisha, are you a mom? Why do care so much about Maternity & Paternity policies when you don’t even have a kid?  I care because unfair Maternity & Paternity policies are contributing the Gender Wage Gap.  I care because I am tired of hearing stories like ” my mom was a lawyer but now she doesn’t do anything, she just stays home”.  Why is society equating the  job and responsibility of childcare as “nothing”. I’ve worked recruitment, and just like a project manager , I could write a job description for being a parent. The importance of having a “choice” is paramount in attracting new talent. It is 2020, talented professionals should not have to hide the desire for family or have to give up a hope to have one. It should be a choice.

For years the discussion of the Gender Wage Gap has been going on. How can we close it? how it affects us as a society? But did you know that if we start to focus and advocate for more fair and accomodating Parental leave policies we are actually helping close the gap?

As many women are still the primary caregivers, it is estimated by the Institute of Women’s Policy Research that ” over a 15 year peroid women are paid just 49 cents to the man’s dollar” due the time spent out of Labor force for childcare.  There must be shared responsibilities as many men won’t take paternity leave unless “79%” of their salary is covered during their leave. However for most employee’s that isn’t the case.  Employers need to change their views and policies towards parental leave if they want to retract and retain loyal employees. Employee’s need to demand for fair parental leave and flexible work schedules after the child birth, surrogecy or adoption.

Although  times are changing and many men are starting to request and take a stand by taking paternity leave, they still face barriers. A study conducted by Rutgers University found that penelaties such as decreased salary, being demoted or laid off were given to men who had to courage to request family leave. Many of those same men were passed over for leadership roles or “high-profile” projects. In addition to professional barreirs, there is unfortunately social stigma as well, research shows that many men experience a “feminiity stigma” for being courageous  and taking leave. Instead of offering support, many collegues taunted them with similar traits that society uses to “stigmatize” women such as insecure, weak and emotional.

If you are a key decision maker or HR professional , I urge you to review your current policies and see how can you create a fairer and most just family leave policy to help your employees share responsibilities.

Want to know more, I suggest you check out this insightful report:

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/09/how-parental-leave-policies-impact-gender-gap-war

Thanks for reading!

Nisha

Sources:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/elanagross/2019/05/14/how-paid-paternity-leave-can-help-close-the-gender-pay-gap/

https://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/resources/economic-justice/fair-pay/paid-leave-will-help-close-gender-wage-gap.pdf