Women in the workforce know about the “motherhood penalty,” or the negative career impact that results from becoming a mom, even if they don’t know it by that name. Those who receive the penalty experience reduced compensation and opportunities for career advancement.
There are plenty of statistics that support this. One recent survey found that 33% of women report that having children negatively impacted their careers and that the same percentage of women believe they were discriminated against at work due to being pregnant.
What’s lacking in today’s workplace are initiatives designed to address the problem by championing women who choose to pursue both a career and motherhood.
Fifty years ago, the majority of women who chose to become mothers opted out of participation in the workforce, but now, the majority are opting in. While the rate at which moms are entering the workforce has increased, the evolution of workplace policies designed to support working moms hasn’t kept pace.
A recent survey of working parents, of which 99% of respondents were moms, revealed that 4 in 10 don’t feel their employer offers family-friendly policies. Employers should take note that 90% of working parents included in the survey said they would leave their present job for one with better family benefits.
Juliana Horowitz, Associate Director of Research at Pew Research Center, explains that a lack of support for moms in the workplace has far-reaching implications. “Working moms are dealing with much more than working dads,” she shares. “A majority of them say that being a working parent makes it harder for them to succeed at their job or career, but also that it makes it harder for them to be a good parent.”
Most people would include paid maternity leave among the benefits that are most helpful for moms in the workforce. Standards provided by the International Labor Organization stipulate that leave should be a minimum of 12 weeks, with full health benefits and at least two-thirds of previous pay provided.
Paid maternity leave is widely unregulated in the United States, as there’s no federal law requiring it, and only 11 states require it. As a result, companies that maximize maternity benefits have a competitive edge when it comes to recruiting working women.
For companies that truly want to support women in the workplace, generous paid maternity leave is just the start. The next step is to support moms with paid paternity leave.
Paid paternity leave is rare in the United States. Stats from 2023 show only 1 in 5 dads have access to it. For those dads who take paternity leave, most return before their leave officially ends.
A key reason behind the lack of parity is dads are typically seen as secondary caregivers. While workplace culture doesn’t place as much value on dads helping with child care, that perspective couldn’t be more wrong.
The first few weeks of a child’s life are important for establishing patterns for future parenting. Dads who take paternity leave enjoy parenting more and end up playing a more active role in raising their children. For children, that increased engagement with their fathers often leads to better developmental outcomes.
Additionally, women don’t need special treatment as they contribute to their organization’s success. What they need is support at home. Providing and promoting paid paternity care supports women during a challenging but very meaningful moment in their careers, making paid paternity leave a valuable resource for both fathers and mothers.
In 2022, my company joined an initiative launched by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Singapore that extended double-paid paternity leave to dads at our company. The DoubleUp Pledge, as the initiative is known, extends the typical 2 weeks of paid leave for dads to 4 weeks and is aimed at making gender equality a reality.
We explained to our team that this initiative is a benefit that allows them to spend time with their children and support mothers. We haven’t had to push it hard; people are happy to take the meaningful time away.
Companies that offer paid paternity leave, especially those that offer double paternity leave, increase their costs by doing so. However, they make a powerful statement about the culture and values they want to promote.
As Mary Beth Ferrante, CEO of WRK/360, points out, 85% of your employees will become parents at some point, highlighting the far-reaching implications of providing parental care. “Parents and particularly working moms are the canaries in the coal mine,” Ferrante says. “If the working mom is struggling, there’s definitely something that is not working when it comes to how we treat care within that organization.”
Offering paid paternity leave is a statement that your company exists beyond the purpose of simply making money. It shows your desire to be a good force for people, helping them in their careers and in their lives. It also shows you believe there are things in life more important than work, such as spending quality time with your newborn.
Too often, the support offered to women in the workplace involves professional development aimed at making them better leaders. I believe this to be a waste of resources because women are already great leaders.
The support women need is someone at home to help with their children. Companies can provide that support by giving dads paid paternity leave, and if they really want to invest in women, they will double it.
Nellie Wartoft is a Swedish entrepreneur who launched social learning platform Tigerhall in 2019, revolutionizing how professionals learn from one another in the real world. Under her leadership, Tigerhall has quickly gained traction with users across 32 countries and employees in 12 markets. She has raised over $10 million in venture capital from visionary investors, including Sequoia Capital and Monk’s Hill Ventures, and Tigerhall’s customers include global Fortune 500 firms in technology, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), professional services, and financial services.
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