tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/maternity-leave-1972/articles
Maternity leave – The Conversation
2024-03-05T21:56:12Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/222982
2024-03-05T21:56:12Z
2024-03-05T21:56:12Z
Immigrant women suffer financially for taking maternity leave: 4 ways Canada can improve
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575120/original/file-20240212-18-b6ebmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=70%2C50%2C6639%2C3722&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Immigrant women disproportionately work caring for children, elderly adults and people living with disabilities. At the same time, immigrant care workers earn low incomes and experience precarious employment.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Canada is facing a critical <a href="https://canadiancaregiving.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/CCCE_Giving-Care.pdf">shortage of caregivers</a>, both paid and unpaid. And those who do this vital work face significant pressures that are impacting their lives. In particular, there are high costs to immigrant women for taking time off of paid work to care for their own babies. </p>
<p>Immigrant women <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00036-eng.htm">disproportionately work caring for children, elderly adults and people living with disabilities</a>. At the same time, immigrant care workers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12851">earn low incomes</a> and experience <a href="https://www.parklandinstitute.ca/more_than_just_a_health_care_aide">precarious employment</a>. The fact that these women experience further economic penalties for taking maternity or parental leave is a pressing social issue.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.2023-005">My recent paper</a> in <em>Canadian Public Policy</em> documents for the first time the financial implications immigrant women face for taking time out of the labour market to care for a child. I use Statistics Canada data from the <a href="https://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=5057">Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB)</a> and the <a href="https://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=4502">2018 General Social Survey (GSS)</a>. </p>
<p>The data revealed a gendered, classed and racialized divide among women caring for their children in Canada today. It’s a divide that is having a negative financial impact on immigrant women doing this work. </p>
<h2>Disparities in who is caring for children</h2>
<p>The data revealed patterns of who is providing unpaid care for children. Women were more than eight times as likely as men to be caring for children or on parental leave.</p>
<p>Immigrants were 1.8 times as likely to report these as their main activities compared with non-immigrants. Racialized populations were 1.5 times more likely than non-racialized populations to be providing this care. </p>
<p>Further, my analysis finds that immigrant women who came to Canada via the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/work-canada/hire-permanent-foreign/caregiver-program.html">Live-in Caregiver/Caregiver Program (LCP/CP)</a> had a substantively higher probability of having a birth-related career interruption than comparable immigrant women who entered Canada via the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/permanent-residence/non-economic-classes/family-class-process.html">family</a> or <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/permanent-residence/economic-classes.html">economic</a> immigration programs.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579264/original/file-20240301-26-kmlxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Woman using laptop carries a baby." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579264/original/file-20240301-26-kmlxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579264/original/file-20240301-26-kmlxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579264/original/file-20240301-26-kmlxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579264/original/file-20240301-26-kmlxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579264/original/file-20240301-26-kmlxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579264/original/file-20240301-26-kmlxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579264/original/file-20240301-26-kmlxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Data suggests that, in the vast majority of cases, income will be lower the year after a birth-related career interruption.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<h2>Financial disadvantages for providing essential unpaid care</h2>
<p>I looked at immigrant women who took time out of the labour market to care for their babies and compared their income the year before the career interruption with the year after.</p>
<p>I found that the probability of having income ten per cent lower the year after a birth-related career interruption is highest for women who immigrated through the family class program, followed closely by those in the caregiver program and those who immigrated through the economic class. </p>
<p>The differences were small. Instead, there is a large divide across scenarios rather than entry classes. Notably, all immigrant women have much lower probabilities of having either the same or higher income after a birth-related career interruption.</p>
<p>This suggests that for immigrant women in Canada, in the vast majority of cases, income will be lower the year after a birth-related career interruption than prior. There are financial penalties for caring for their own children. </p>
<h2>What can the federal government do?</h2>
<p>Most important legislation affecting the career earnings trajectories of immigrants operates at the provincial level. For example, policies tied to collective bargaining and unionization, education and training, minimum wage, employment standards and occupational health and safety are set by provincial governments. </p>
<p>These are of critical importance to immigrant women workers, but there is wide variation across Canada.</p>
<p>At the federal level, however, concrete changes to the caregiver program and to Employment Insurance (EI) could help to address the challenges highlighted above. The four changes proposed below would be important steps forward for immigrant women care workers. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579263/original/file-20240301-20-3uw0rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Woman and baby play on a couch" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579263/original/file-20240301-20-3uw0rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579263/original/file-20240301-20-3uw0rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579263/original/file-20240301-20-3uw0rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579263/original/file-20240301-20-3uw0rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579263/original/file-20240301-20-3uw0rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579263/original/file-20240301-20-3uw0rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579263/original/file-20240301-20-3uw0rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Changes to caregiver programs and to Employment Insurance could help to address the challenges caregivers face.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>First, immigrants who enter Canada via caregiver programs should be eligible to access maternity leave and workers compensation benefits regardless of whether their status in Canada is temporary or permanent. As well, encouraging better education regarding maternity and parental leave entitlements so immigrants know their rights might improve take-up rates. </p>
<p>Second, the government should increase and improve programs to support the labour market integration of immigrants coming to Canada via caregiver programs. This would include assisting with transfer and recognition of foreign credentials which has been widely identified as <a href="https://triec.ca/eliminating-the-barrier-of-credential-recognition-for-immigrant-professionals/">an area in need of support</a>. This would also help immigrant care workers find work that is commensurate with their training and skills, likely with higher pay and better maternity benefits. </p>
<p>Third, further increasing federal funding for paid child-care provision would assist in alleviating the shortage of workers. Improving the quality, accessibility and affordability of paid child care would assist immigrant women in transitioning back to the labour market after having a baby. It would also improve pay for child-care workers, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2023.2232832">who are disproportionately immigrant and racialized women</a>. </p>
<p>Fourth, governments need to look at reforming EI and other related programs through a gender-based analysis. This could include implementing new or more tax credits for unpaid caregiving, increasing flexibility in the definition of allowable expenses, changes to the child benefits system, increasing short-term programs to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-09-2020-0255">address deskilling</a> from extended time outside of the labour market caring for children, and suggesting regulatory changes to the definition of self-employment for income tax purposes. </p>
<p>These changes would better ensure that career interruptions tied to childbirth and care do not unduly impact or disadvantage immigrant women over their working lives. The minimum we can and should do as a society is ensure that immigrant women who devote their working lives to caring for others are equally cared for themselves when they become mothers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222982/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Naomi Lightman receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Counsel (SSHRC), the Canadian Research Data Centre Network (CRDCN), and Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) Canada.</span></em></p>
Research shows a classed and racialized divide among women caring for their children in Canada today. It’s a divide that is having a negative financial impact on immigrant women doing this work.
Naomi Lightman, Associate Professor of Sociology, Toronto Metropolitan University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/222045
2024-02-04T13:33:40Z
2024-02-04T13:33:40Z
3 lessons from MP Karina Gould’s parental leave that could help all Canadian families
<p>Federal cabinet minister Karina Gould, leader of the government in the House of Commons, has made Canadian history three times: as the youngest female federal cabinet minister, the first <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/karina-gould-baby-oliver-1.4569111">to give birth while holding office</a> and the first to take parental leave. Her approach to parental leave could well translate into her most enduring legacy.</p>
<p>Like all MPs, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/karina-gould-maternity-leave-cabinet-1.4528668">Gould wasn’t eligible for parental leave when her first child was born in 2018</a>. Four weeks later, she resumed work in her constituency of Burlington, Ont. After another five weeks, she returned to the House of Commons with her infant in tow. </p>
<p>Gould has just given birth to her second child. This time, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-the-second-time-around-karina-goulds-maternity-plans-are-much/">she’s doing things differently</a>. She’s taking six months off, thanks to 2019 legislation that provides MP parents of newborns up to 12 months with paid parental leave benefits.</p>
<p>On the surface, Gould’s parental leave plan resembles that of many Canadians. Yet there are key differences, and they offer three lessons on how parental leave could be redesigned for each and every Canadian parent. </p>
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<h2>Lesson 1: Boost eligibility</h2>
<p>Not all Canadians are eligible for parental leave. Almost one-third of all Canadian mothers (outside of Québec, <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/october-2020/redesign-parental-leave-system-to-enhance-gender-equality/">which has a more inclusive program</a>) <a href="https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/full/10.3138/cpp.2020-091">do not receive paid maternity or parental benefits</a>. This is due to many factors, including restrictive <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/ei/ei-list/reports/maternity-parental.html">eligibility criteria of 600 employment hours in the year before a child’s birth</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/payroll/payroll-deductions-contributions/special-payments/elected-appointed-officials.html">MPs do not pay into Employment Insurance (EI)</a> and so were, until 2019, ineligible for parental leave benefits. Yet the government found a policy path for them. </p>
<p>It’s time to rethink eligibility criteria so that more Canadians can benefit from parental leave benefits. </p>
<h2>Lesson 2: Better wage top-ups</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/MAS/mas-e.pdf">MPs receive 92 per cent of their salaries while on leave</a>. Similar salary top-ups exist in the public sector and some private companies. For most Canadians, however, parental leave is low-paid: only 33 to 55 per cent of wages, <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-regular-benefit/benefit-amount.html">with a ceiling of $401 to $668 weekly and $63,200 annually</a>.</p>
<p>Out of 36 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Canada has the <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/february-2023/ei-parental-benefits/">lowest wage replacement rates</a> for parental leave. </p>
<p>This has implications for how many Canadian fathers take their parental leave entitlements. In 2020-21, <a href="https://www.leavenetwork.org/fileadmin/user_upload/k_leavenetwork/annual_reviews/2023/Canada2023.pdf">23.5 per cent of eligible fathers</a> took parental leave. In Québec, which has a 70-75 per cent wage replacement rate, that number was 85.6 per cent. It’s time to make leaves affordable for all parents.</p>
<h2>Lesson 3: More flexibility</h2>
<p>Finally, there are lessons about flexibility and choice, and what they mean in a post-pandemic world, where remote work has changed how people balance family life and paid work.</p>
<p>For Gould, this means taking a short post-partum leave and then combining parental leave with some remote work. As she told Canadians, she plans to <a href="https://twitter.com/karinagould/status/1744377173425717510">“take on her MP work remotely, voting and participating in caucus and cabinet meetings, though on a reduced schedule.</a>” </p>
<p>Admittedly, an MP’s job, with its unique pressures, requires a flexible parental leave system. Yet many other jobs have distinct demands.</p>
<p>The problem with Canada’s current system is that leaves must be taken as consecutive weeks in the first 12 to 18 months after a child’s birth.</p>
<p>There are other ways to do parental leave. <a href="https://www.leavenetwork.org/fileadmin/user_upload/k_leavenetwork/annual_reviews/2023/Sweden2023.pdf">In Sweden</a>, for example, leaves can be taken in one or several blocks of time, in days rather than weeks, on a full or part-time basis, and across several years. </p>
<p>There are risks to flexible leave, however, that are <a href="https://www.gendereconomy.org/the-future-of-work/">well-documented in research</a> on flexible work and gender inequalities. Some employers might not respect the boundaries of parents on leave. These boundaries are critical because parents need time to care for their infants, who demand and deserve that dedicated care.</p>
<p>But there are precedents to build on, such as Ontario’s “<a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-ontarios-right-to-disconnect-policy-takes-effect-today-heres-what/">right to disconnect</a>” policy and EI’s <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/ei/ei-list/working-while-claim.html">Working While on Claim</a> option. </p>
<h2>Shining a spotlight</h2>
<p>Gould’s parental leave matters not only to her family. It should matter to all Canadians, because it shines a spotlight on the federal government’s long overdue promise to <a href="https://2019.liberal.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/292/2019/09/Backgrounder-More-time-and-money-to-help-families-raise-their-kids.pdf">rethink and redesign parental leave policy</a>. </p>
<p>There have been important changes, including a <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/campaigns/ei-improvements/parent-sharing.html">parental sharing benefit</a> for fathers and second parents and benefits for parents of <a href="https://www.hrinfodesk.com/preview.asp?article=50100&title=New%20adoption%20Employment%20Insurance%20(EI)%20benefit">adopted children</a>. <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/february-2022/parental-leave-needs-an-overhaul/">It’s time to do more</a> for more Canadians. </p>
<p>A rethinking of parental leave should begin with clarifying what parental leave is.</p>
<p>Currently, a paid leave to care for an infant combines parental benefits, which are lodged within EI as employment benefits, and the right to take job-protected leave, which is part of provincial/territorial/federal employment standards. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/improved-employment-policies-can-encourage-fathers-to-be-more-involved-at-home-218337">Improved employment policies can encourage fathers to be more involved at home</a>
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<p>But parental leave is more than an employment policy — it’s also a care policy. Despite what the EI website states, a leave to care for an infant is not about being “<a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-maternity-parental.html">away from work.</a>” Care work is, in fact, actual work. </p>
<p>Parental leave also needs to be integrated with other care policies, especially early learning and child-care policies. Again, there are models to emulate, such as <a href="https://www.government.se/articles/2023/07/every-child-in-sweden-has-the-right-to-a-safe-secure-and-bright-future/">Sweden</a> and other <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1163/j.ctv2gjwv97">Nordic</a> countries. There, children have a human right and entitlement to be cared for.</p>
<p>And there is an explicit policy aim that for every child, there will be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-04-2019-0063">no gap</a> between the end of well-paid parental leave and the beginning of early learning and child care.</p>
<h2>Recognizing the value of care</h2>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic had major impacts on how <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-631-x/11-631-x2024001-eng.htm">some Canadians</a>, <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/hybrid-sittings-are-here-to-stay-as-house-passes-sweeping-rule-changes-1.6443326">including MPs</a>, can now do some of their paid work in the office or at home. The pandemic also illuminated the socioeconomic value of care and <a href="https://thecareeconomy.ca/">the care economy</a>. </p>
<p>Gould understands this. As the former minister of families, children and social development, she worked with <a href="https://childcarenow.ca/2022/03/28/media-release-child-care-advocates-celebrate-the-signing-of-thirteen-canada-wide-early-learning-and-child-care-agreements/">child-care advocates</a> and experts to shepherd the creation of Canada’s first national child-care program. </p>
<p>When she returns from her parental leave, she will be well-placed to advocate for more inclusive integrated care policies. In fact, it may be long overdue to create a federal minister of care.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222045/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Doucet receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>
Karina Gould’s parental leave is similar to that of many Canadians. Yet there are key differences, and they offer lessons on how parental leave could be redesigned to help more Canadian parents.
Andrea Doucet, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Gender, Work, and Care, Brock University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/206152
2023-08-21T11:19:07Z
2023-08-21T11:19:07Z
Shared parental leave has failed because it doesn’t make financial or emotional sense
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540474/original/file-20230801-25-b25rj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1732%2C30%2C5144%2C3226&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/vietnamese-young-father-feeding-his-baby-371031866">Dragon Images/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When <a href="https://www.gov.uk/shared-parental-leave-and-pay">shared parental leave</a> was introduced in 2015 in the UK, the then Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government described it as a “<a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2013-02-25/debates/13022511000001/ChildrenAndFamiliesBill?highlight=jo%20swinson%20radical#contribution-13022511000467">radical</a>” policy, suitable for modern <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/82969/12-1267-modern-workplaces-response-flexible-parental-leave.pdf">lives and workplaces</a>. </p>
<p>By allowing parents to share up to 50 weeks of leave in the first year of their child’s life, it was vaunted as a way to encourage fathers to bond with their babies and enable mothers to return to work sooner, helping to close the gender pay gap.</p>
<p>Eight years on, it’s hard to see shared parental leave as anything but a failure. We don’t know exactly what proportion of parents have used it over these eight years, but the number is certainly extremely low. </p>
<p>Figures for <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1166383/shared-parental-leave-evaluation-report-2023.pdf">children born between May and September 2017</a> show that just 1% of eligible mothers and 5% of eligible fathers took shared parental leave: the discrepancy coming from mothers taking maternity leave and leftover leave being claimed as shared parental leave by fathers. <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/documents/college-social-sciences/business/research/wirc/spl-policy-brief.pdf">Other research has found</a> that just over 1% of eligible parents took shared parental leave in 2017-18. And that’s not even 1% of all parents: some aren’t eligible for the benefit anyway.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, there is little data on whether shared parental leave has been taken up by same-sex parents. </p>
<h2>More responsibility</h2>
<p>The primary caregiver in a child’s first year tends to take on the bulk of parenting during that child’s formative years – and this is usually the mother. Shared parental leave was intended to challenge this by giving the secondary caregiver, usually the father, the chance to take on more responsibility from the beginning.</p>
<p>Research has shown that this can work. Shared parenting gives fathers more opportunities to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6690499/">bond</a> with their babies which then <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/jcfs.44.5.557">increases</a> their involvement in childcare as the child gets older. </p>
<p>But the way the policy was designed in the UK has left shared parental leave with plenty of downsides too. It requires mothers give up some of their maternity leave, which means they have less maternity leave overall. </p>
<p>The pay you receive (shared parental pay) is also a disadvantage. The first six weeks of maternity pay is 90% of the mother’s average earnings. Shared parental pay is <a href="https://www.gov.uk/shared-parental-leave-and-pay/what-youll-get">paid at a statutory rate</a>, currently less than half of <a href="https://checkyourpay.campaign.gov.uk/#are_you_23_or_over_">the living wage</a> (or 90% of the mother’s salary if it’s lower than this rate). This means that there’s no financial incentive for the mother to transfer her maternity leave within these first weeks. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Parents looking at bills" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540485/original/file-20230801-23-7lyfr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540485/original/file-20230801-23-7lyfr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540485/original/file-20230801-23-7lyfr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540485/original/file-20230801-23-7lyfr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540485/original/file-20230801-23-7lyfr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540485/original/file-20230801-23-7lyfr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540485/original/file-20230801-23-7lyfr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Shared parental leave can cause financial headaches for parents.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/portrait-adult-couple-doing-paperwork-while-1601449429">SeventyFour/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And if the father or secondary partner earns more than the mother (often referred to as the “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017020946657">partner pay gap</a>” and the norm within the UK and other European countries), the financial costs of giving up that wage during shared parental leave are often insurmountable. This also true for couples where one partner is self-employed. Self-employed workers are <a href="https://www.unbiased.co.uk/discover/personal-finance/family/paternity-leave-pay-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-work#:%7E:text=What%20about%20self%2Demployed%20paternity,shared%20parental%20leave%20or%20pay.">not eligible</a> for shared parental leave (or statutory paternity leave). </p>
<p>My <a href="https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/838816">research</a> with parents of babies born in 2020 found that the financial implications and complexity of the policy discourages parents from using shared parental leave. </p>
<h2>Parents’ wishes</h2>
<p>But the problem with the policy goes deeper than this. The UK’s shared parental leave fails to take into account parents’ desires to spend as much time as possible with their children, especially in the early years. It was designed without considering how beliefs about who provides the “best parenting” can shape parental decisions. Mothers <a href="https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/black-mothers-and-attachment-parenting">are reluctant</a> to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01442872.2019.1581160">sacrifice their time</a> with their child by sharing <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-42970-0_10">their parental leave</a>. </p>
<p>The overarching aim of shared parental leave was focused more on <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/82969/12-1267-modern-workplaces-response-flexible-parental-leave.pdf">helping the economy</a> – by keeping people in work or encouraging people to return to work – rather than on allowing parents to care for their child at home for as long as they wish. </p>
<p>Despite its imperfections, shared parental leave does provide families with some options that can be positive for both parents. But to really change societal dynamics around childcare and make caring responsibilities truly equal, we need policies that support children and parents and enable them to make the choices that work best for their families. </p>
<p>A good start would be to learn from places that have much higher rates of parental leave take-up, particularly where men take longer leave. These include <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35225982">Sweden</a> and Quebec in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/15/the-daddy-quota-how-quebec-got-men-to-take-parental-leave">Canada</a>. The key to these and other successes has been individual entitlement. This means giving fathers and secondary caregivers an independent right to well-paid leave. </p>
<p>If the government truly want to give children <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/best-start-in-life-a-research-review-for-early-years">the best start in life</a>, it should to reconsider how we support parents. Their ability to spend time with their children should not be linked to their value as a worker or their contribution to the economy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206152/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patricia Hamilton's research was funded by a Marie Curie Individual Fellowship (838816).</span></em></p>
Shared parental leave requires mothers to give up some of their maternity leave.
Patricia Hamilton, Lecturer, University of York
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/211140
2023-08-08T13:39:27Z
2023-08-08T13:39:27Z
South African women: violence, health and money issues among 5 biggest obstacles that stand in their way
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541504/original/file-20230807-34729-24ggu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every year on 9 August South Africa celebrates <a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/womens-day-2023-11-nov-2022-1542">Women’s Day</a>, marking an important moment in the country’s history. This was the <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/1956-womens-march-pretoria-9-august">day in 1956</a> when women marched to the seat of government, the Union Buildings in Pretoria, to protest against legislation aimed at tightening the apartheid government’s control over the movement of black women in urban areas.</p>
<p>Today, Women’s Day is also used to draw attention to the issues women still face throughout South Africa. </p>
<p>Over the years we’ve published many articles that highlight the plight of South Africa’s women. The five we’ve selected here point to some major issues that remain unresolved. These range from physical abuse – like violence and rape – to health and wealth barriers.</p>
<hr>
<h2><strong>Violence</strong></h2>
<p>South Africa has notoriously high levels of violence against women. The country has among the highest rape incidences in the world. In the first quarter of 2022 alone, police figures showed that <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-06-03-crime-crisis-continues-in-first-quarter-of-2022-with-women-and-children-worst-affected/">10,818</a> rape cases were reported. </p>
<p>Amanda Gouws, a political scientist and the chair of the South African Research Initiative in Gender Politics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/violence-against-women-is-staggeringly-high-in-south-africa-a-different-way-of-thinking-about-it-is-needed-195053">addressed</a> the question of how gender-based violence could be reduced. </p>
<p>She argued that interventions focusing on ontological violence – men’s sense of entitlement to women’s bodies and hypermasculinity – were key. Ontological violence is difficult to address, however, because its origins are diffuse.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/violence-against-women-is-staggeringly-high-in-south-africa-a-different-way-of-thinking-about-it-is-needed-195053">Violence against women is staggeringly high in South Africa – a different way of thinking about it is needed</a>
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<hr>
<h2><strong>Unable to save or invest</strong></h2>
<p>The South African government has put in place measures to address gender equality. But policies on financial inclusion – the ability to access credit and manage or mitigate risks – are lacking. </p>
<p>Political economist Tinuade Adekunbi Ojo <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-needs-to-up-its-game-when-it-comes-to-financial-inclusion-for-women-168121">explained</a> that South African women might have a bank account but still have difficulty accessing other financial products or services. </p>
<p>In her research, she found that women entrepreneurs sometimes had to partner with a man before being heard by financial stakeholders. And government policies were not designed to address the particular situations faced by women running a business.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-needs-to-up-its-game-when-it-comes-to-financial-inclusion-for-women-168121">South Africa needs to up its game when it comes to financial inclusion for women</a>
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<hr>
<h2><strong>Keeping healthy</strong></h2>
<p>Data from South Africa has shown that <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/lifestyle/health/sa-a-growing-nation-of-obese-adults-1763279">over two-thirds</a> of young women are overweight or obese. This predisposes them to diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. </p>
<p>Alessandra Prioreschi, who studies health and physical activity, <a href="https://theconversation.com/young-women-in-soweto-say-healthy-living-is-hard-heres-why-118198">explained</a> that the drivers of obesity included a lack of exercise, and the consumption of processed and calorie-dense foods and high amounts of sugar. </p>
<p>Her study found that there were many barriers to healthy eating, among them the cost of and access to healthy food options. She argued that policymakers needed to provide women with access to safe spaces to exercise, make healthier foods affordable and control the oversupply of unhealthy options.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/young-women-in-soweto-say-healthy-living-is-hard-heres-why-118198">Young women in Soweto say healthy living is hard. Here's why</a>
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</em>
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<hr>
<h2><strong>Struggles in retirement</strong></h2>
<p>Poverty is a reality that many of South Africa’s retirees face, and the number of retirees at risk is growing, making them <a href="https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/events/pdf/expert/1/ramashala.pdf">three times</a> more likely to experience poverty than any other age group. </p>
<p>Financial planning expert Bomikazi Zeka <a href="https://theconversation.com/retired-women-in-south-africa-carry-a-huge-burden-of-poverty-177379">revealed</a> that female retirees were particularly disadvantaged because of the economic inequality they experienced prior to retirement. Women made up the largest group of low-paid employees, faced unequal labour market opportunities and had family care responsibilities.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/retired-women-in-south-africa-carry-a-huge-burden-of-poverty-177379">Retired women in South Africa carry a huge burden of poverty</a>
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<hr>
<h2><strong>Labour rights</strong></h2>
<p>Of all working women in South Africa, <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0211/P02112ndQuarter2022.pdf#page=70">around 12%</a> are domestic workers. Public health researcher Catherine Pereira-Kotze <a href="https://theconversation.com/12-of-working-women-in-south-africa-are-domestic-workers-yet-they-dont-receive-proper-maternity-leave-or-pay-189766">explained</a> that these workers had little by way of safety nets. They often depended on the goodwill of their employer to get protection like maternity pay and leave. </p>
<p>South Africa’s laws and regulations do cater for non-standard workers. They’re supposed to get health protection in the workplace, maternity leave and job security. But the policy framework is fragmented and employers don’t always comply. For instance, some women lose their income for the months they are on maternity leave.</p>
<p>Workplaces and employers need to be encouraged to go beyond minimum national requirements. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/12-of-working-women-in-south-africa-are-domestic-workers-yet-they-dont-receive-proper-maternity-leave-or-pay-189766">12% of working women in South Africa are domestic workers – yet they don't receive proper maternity leave or pay</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211140/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Women’s Day is used to draw attention to the issues women still face in South Africa.
Thabo Leshilo, Politics + Society
Moina Spooner, Assistant Editor
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/208891
2023-08-04T13:54:29Z
2023-08-04T13:54:29Z
Women’s World Cup: what still needs to be done to improve the lot of elite female footballers
<p>The <a href="https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/australia-new-zealand2023">Fifa Women’s World Cup</a> is just 32 years old and on its eighth official edition, while the men’s competition began 93 years ago and has enjoyed 22 tournaments.</p>
<p>After the success of the 2019 WWC in France, the women’s competition has progressed to new heights for 2023 in Australia and New Zealand. There are <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49184181#:%7E:text=The%20Women%27s%20World%20Cup%20will%20increase%20from%2024,the%20process%20opens%20on%204%20October%20this%20year.">more teams than ever competing</a>, in front of the <a href="https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/australia-new-zealand2023/media-releases/fifa-womens-world-cup-2023-tm-breaks-new-records">biggest TV audiences</a>, with each player to be paid directly, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/jun/07/fifa-2023-womens-world-cup-australia-new-zealand-fee-payments">guaranteeing prize money for the first time</a>.</p>
<p>It’s fair to assume that this Women’s World Cup is probably the most significant women’s sporting event in history, although this won’t be the last time we hear that phrase. The trajectory of women’s sport is <a href="https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/about-documentary">continually rising</a> – and arguably there has never been a better time to be involved in sport as a woman.</p>
<p>But for so long women have fought for a more equal footing within the male-dominated world of sport, and researchers have long highlighted the <a href="https://books.emeraldinsight.com/book/detail/the-professionalisation-of-womens-sport-by-ali-bowes/?k=9781800431973">lack of equality in the game</a>. So, as participation levels rise, TV viewing figures increase and sponsorship income improves year on year, we might ask: what’s left to achieve for women in football?</p>
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<p>Alongside other researchers, I have written about the <a href="https://books.emeraldinsight.com/page/detail/women%EF%BF%BDs-football-in-a-global-professional-era/?k=9781800710535">gender gap</a> in professional and elite-level women’s football in the last few years. This body of work pays attention to some key – and in many ways overlapping and interlinked – issues in women’s sport, including equal pay, injury, menstruation and maternity rights.</p>
<p>One of the most significant developments for women’s sport is the <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/978-1-80071-052-820230013/full/html">discussion on equal pay</a> in football, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14660970.2021.1977280">advanced mainly</a> by the US women’s national team.</p>
<p>This World Cup has seen the <a href="https://fifpro.org/en/who-we-are/what-we-do/foundations-of-work/collective-action-fifpro-celebrates-players-improved-women-s-world-cup-pay-and-conditions/">biggest investment of money from Fifa</a> yet: US$152m (£118m) to ensure that all players are paid and prize money is increased and on a “<a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/womens-world-cup-prize-money-equal-pay-142958181.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJkNUU2zeIuTwaYlfa4w7yVRFrmraWk2tEOmxXtg2nhBCPf4_TXou7cnjOA0R0P_y9tBH3swhVijtZ-VQd7ttQUG3k_yfwa6oIOrU2qhZeixMtHSn144AXirq_WY_GNJ71faGZz9gZ7AisV7ezmcxRfcw0wd4m9zcoXRkzj5UZTh">pathway to equality</a>” with the men’s tournament. Fifa has also ensured that standards across staffing, base camps, accommodation and travel are delivered to the same level as the men’s competition.</p>
<h2>Facilities and healthcare</h2>
<p>However, despite the starry heights reached by the qualified teams, a recent report by the world players’ union <a href="https://fifpro.org/en/">Fifpro</a> found that there remain <a href="https://fifpro.org/en/who-we-are/what-we-do/foundations-of-work/new-fifpro-report-warns-of-uneven-women-s-world-cup-qualifying-across-confederations">stark inequalities in women’s football</a> across the globe.</p>
<p>A total of 362 women across teams attempting to qualify for this World Cup were surveyed, with 70% reporting poor gym facilities, 66% reporting poor or non-existent recovery facilities, and 54% saying they were not provided with a pre-tournament medical. </p>
<p>In addition 66% players had to take unpaid leave or vacation from work and almost 33% did not receive any compensation. So there is work to be done in the elite women’s game.</p>
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<h2>Injuries</h2>
<p>Given the <a href="https://fifpro.org/media/iv2cvxt5/2023-qualifying-conditions-report_en_web.pdf">findings</a> from Fifpro on facilities, pitches and payment, it comes as no surprise that injury has become a hot topic of interest within women’s football. According to sports medicine specialists, women are <a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12926431/future-of-football-why-acl-injuries-have-been-on-rise-in-womens-game-and-the-technology-and-solutions-to-fix-it#:%7E:text=Football%2Dfocused%20studies%20suggest%20women,likely%20to%20return%20after%20recovery.">six times more likely</a> to rupture their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), and for this World Cup, <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/978-1-80071-052-820230013/full/html">nine of the top players</a> are <a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/news/35730/12748748/inside-the-wsl-why-are-acl-injuries-so-common-in-womens-football">absent with the injury</a>.</p>
<h2>Gendered environment</h2>
<p>The field of sport science has been heavily criticised for its <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/wspaj/29/2/article-p146.xml?alreadyAuthRedirecting">male-dominated approach</a>, where only 6% of research looks exclusively at women. Only now are we seeing a drive to develop female-specific equipment in <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65985681">response to player concerns</a>, as scientists start to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12283-022-00384-3">address the gender imbalance</a> in sports technology.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/55/17/984.full">powerful piece</a> published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine highlights a gendered environment approach to understanding ACL injuries. This work describes how the social construction of gender affects the ACL injury cycle across the whole life of the athlete.</p>
<p>This includes how boys and girls learn to move (often differently) alongside inadequate training and competition environments for girls, and gendered cultural body norms – often women competing in sport are considered “unfeminine”, with athletic, muscular bodies traditionally associated with masculinity. </p>
<p>In some countries, like Brazil, for example, female players in the past have <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/equityDiversityInclusion/2012/07/the-body-image-of-female-athletes-diversity-in-sport/">struggled to be accepted in the face “cultural disapproval”</a>. It’s an interesting and useful approach that highlights the complexity of women and girls’ involvement in sport.</p>
<h2>Proper football kit</h2>
<p>Menstruation, menopause and female hormone profiles across puberty, have been thought to have some impact on <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-020-01319-3">sports performance </a>and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/03635465980260050301?casa_token=vanOJh635i8AAAAA:7K0VbM-p8AiFY-dE0RRTmWXlj9EbkMnWU-jXcq3zoGNAOf7vAVPaSr1Qkl17CgRcAHAAp4rrYptz">injury</a>. However, we’re only now seeing changes made to player uniforms – <a href="https://www.femtechworld.co.uk/news/ditching-white-shorts-only-touches-on-the-support-women-need-in-sport-say-experts/">namely no white shorts</a> – in response to player fears around menstruation and leaking, to take one example.</p>
<p>This is part of a broader shift in sportswear manufacturers finally creating women-specific kit instead of the “<a href="https://www.msn.com/en-au/sport/other/women-s-world-cup-from-hand-me-downs-to-period-proofing-the-matildas-kits-reflect-the-evolution-of-women-s-football/ar-AA1ezeqQ">hand-me-down men’s kit” culture</a> many ex-players experienced.</p>
<h2>Women’s bodies and experiences</h2>
<p>This World Cup will see a number of players <a href="https://keepup.com.au/news/mom-squad-behind-us-quest-for-world-cup-glory/">taking to the pitch as mothers</a>. Despite the increasing number of professional women footballers, their employment rights as mothers have often been overlooked. This has led to numbers of women quitting the sport early to have children, and research has shown that players have <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2021.730151/full">struggled</a> to combine professional football careers with motherhood.</p>
<p><a href="https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/033101649cc3c480/original/f9cc8eex7qligvxfznbf-pdf.pdf">Fifa regulations launched at the end of 2020</a> provided players with paid maternity leave for the first time. However, we know in some cases <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2021.730151/full">players have concerns</a> about taking maternity leave. </p>
<p>For example, would their clubs think they are less committed to the sport? Would their bodies recover to their pre-pregnancy form? Here, access to health support and adequate facilities, as well as being properly paid, becomes key, as well as broader cultural change within the sport to normalise pregnancy and motherhood.</p>
<p>It’s clear that women’s football has never been in a better place, and the World Cup is currently a fine showcase for it, but it’s crucial that the female game to continues to strive for improvement in areas that fundamentally affect the lives and careers of its players.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208891/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ali Bowes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
As participation levels rise, TV viewing figures increase and sponsorship income improves year on year, what’s left to achieve for women in football?
Ali Bowes, Senior Lecturer in Sociology of Sport, Nottingham Trent University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/199568
2023-04-27T15:01:40Z
2023-04-27T15:01:40Z
Why menstrual leave could be bad for women
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519854/original/file-20230406-18-29woex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C98%2C6000%2C3898&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bad-period-full-length-view-caucasian-2064704318">NFstock/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Spain recently <a href="https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/02/16/spain-set-to-become-the-first-european-country-to-introduce-a-3-day-menstrual-leave-for-wo">adopted a menstrual leave policy</a>, which makes additional (paid or unpaid) days off work available to “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53269-7_9">only and all cisgender women</a>”.</p>
<p>It’s so great that we’re having more public conversations about menstrual and menopausal health, but I’m getting very tired of being told that menstrual leave is the solution.</p>
<p>As someone with a background in policy evaluation and the founder of the world’s first evidence-based <a href="https://www.menstrual-matters.com/">menstrual health website</a>, I am well placed to comment on this topic. When I evaluated existing menstrual leave policies around the world, I found that they were not progressive or beneficial for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53269-7_9">female reproductive health or gender equality</a>. </p>
<p>The thing is, it is really hard to argue against something that sounds good, even if the available evidence suggests otherwise. Humans seem to be bad at going beyond surface thoughts and we may even prefer stories that align with <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1350178X.2014.939691">rather than challenge gender stereotypes</a>. </p>
<p>So, here is a quick outline of what I think you should know about this policy.</p>
<h2>What is the problem?</h2>
<p>There are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53269-7_9">four main arguments</a> used by those promoting menstrual leave policy:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>It will make the workplace fit for the menstruating female body.</p></li>
<li><p>It will improve menstrual health.</p></li>
<li><p>It will reduce menstrual shame and stigma, and associated discrimination.</p></li>
<li><p>It will improve gender equality in the workplace and beyond. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>However, it has never been made clear exactly how the policy will deliver these outcomes. In fact, based on what we know about existing menstrual leave policies, it might not contribute to any of them.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Quarter life, a series by The Conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/quarter-life-117947?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">This article is part of Quarter Life</a></strong>, a series about issues affecting those of us in our twenties and thirties. From the challenges of beginning a career and taking care of our mental health, to the excitement of starting a family, adopting a pet or just making friends as an adult. The articles in this series explore the questions and bring answers as we navigate this turbulent period of life._</p>
<p><em>You may be interested in:</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/five-important-things-you-should-have-learned-in-sex-ed-but-probably-didnt-202177?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">Five important things you should have learned in sex ed – but probably didn’t</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/postpartum-exercise-can-have-many-benefits-heres-how-to-do-it-safely-200388?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">Postpartum exercise can have many benefits – here’s how to do it safely</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/joy-can-help-us-be-better-at-work-heres-how-to-find-it-198260?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">Joy can help us be better at work – here’s how to find it</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>For instance, the policy does not make it easier to manage your period at work because your employer doesn’t have to change a thing. Instead, you are encouraged to stay away from the workplace. </p>
<p>The policy also does nothing to improve menstrual health. The 90% of people who menstruate and <a href="https://abdn.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/delivery/44ABE_INST:44ABE_VU1/12152380480005941">do not regularly experience severe symptoms</a> do not need to take a whole day off work during their periods. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the minority who do regularly experience severe symptoms almost always have <a href="https://www.rcog.org.uk/guidance/browse-all-guidance/green-top-guidelines/premenstrual-syndrome-management-green-top-guideline-no-48/">an underlying health issue</a>, such as endometriosis, heavy menstrual bleeding, polycystic ovary syndrome, fibroids, auto-immune disorders, depression or premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Encouraging people to cope with severe symptoms alone at home every month, is not an effective or humane solution.</p>
<p>These health conditions deserve effective and timely medical diagnosis and treatment, sick leave and reasonable workplace adjustments. The same things that apply to all chronic health conditions and are already covered by <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents">EU and UK labour policies</a>. </p>
<p>Menstrual leave also does not help to reduce menstrual shame, stigma or discrimination. It actually encourages the removal of menstruation – and by extension women – from the public realm by hiding it at home.</p>
<p>This sex-based policy conflates healthy periods with debilitating menstrual health conditions, which both pathologises the normal female body and undermines health conditions that mainly affect women. This is partly why women and conditions that mainly affect women are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/6358624">more likely to be dismissed by doctors</a>, sometimes taking <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/gender-bias-in-medical-diagnosis#how-does-it-affect-diagnosis">years to get a formal diagnosis</a>.</p>
<p>Finally, by medicalising the menstrual cycle (that is, positioning it as an illness rather than a healthy process) these policies reinforce sexist beliefs that make it seem like all women are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK565629/">biologically inferior (mentally and physically)</a>. This is a major contributing factor in gender discrimination, especially in the workplace, since these ideas are <a href="http://www.beacon.org/Inferior-P1278.aspx">used to undermine</a> the value, contribution and leadership potential of women.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman clutches a hot water bottle to her body." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519858/original/file-20230406-14-tzzphp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519858/original/file-20230406-14-tzzphp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519858/original/file-20230406-14-tzzphp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519858/original/file-20230406-14-tzzphp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519858/original/file-20230406-14-tzzphp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519858/original/file-20230406-14-tzzphp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519858/original/file-20230406-14-tzzphp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Period leave policies keep menstruation at home where employers don’t have to deal with it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-cropped-view-unhealthy-30s-woman-2113290665">Fizkes/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Menstrual leave might even make things worse</h2>
<p>Not only have existing menstrual leave policies failed to address the problems they set out to solve, they have also directly resulted in <a href="https://www.menstrual-matters.com/ml-gender-4/">discrimination against female workers</a>. This is largely due to the gender myths reinforced by the policy. It makes all women seem like more expensive and less consistent and productive employees. It can also lead to a backlash from colleagues and employers <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Periodic_Struggles.html?id=F5YvQwAACAAJ&redir_esc=y">against a sex-based benefit</a>.</p>
<p>We already know that shared parental leave (for parents regardless of gender) is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvfrxngh">more effective policy than maternity leave</a> (which is female sex-based). It improves the gender pay gap, women’s hiring, promotion and leadership opportunities, child health outcomes, fatherhood experiences and gender equality in wider society.</p>
<p>These improvements occur because the policy avoids the gender-based backlash associated with maternity leave. This backlash is driven by the conscious or unconscious resentment of, and associated discrimination against, working women due to a perceived unfair advantage (paid time off work) and/or biological liability (the female reproductive body). The <a href="https://www.menstrual-matters.com/ml-gender-4/">same issues</a> apply to menstrual and menopausal health workplace policies.</p>
<p>We need to improve workplace (and school, and medical) knowledge of reproductive health and wellbeing. We should all know <a href="https://www.menstrual-matters.com/learn-homepage/resources/">what’s normal</a> or the sign of an underlying health condition. Likewise, it’s shocking that some people do not know <a href="https://www.menstrual-matters.com/learn-homepage/resources/">why we menstruate</a> or how to reduce cyclical changes.</p>
<p>We also need to make <a href="https://www.bloodygoodemployers.com/">workplaces (including schools) fit for those who have periods</a> and to promote more <a href="https://www.menstrual-matters.com/ml-alternatives-5/">flexible and equitable work cultures and practices</a> that benefit all employees. For instance, challenging “presenteeism” if employees feel obliged to work even when feeling unwell, and ditching <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/feature/amazon-staff-in-uk-claims-their-toilet-breaks-were-timed-3727431">“timed” toilet breaks</a>. </p>
<p>While these <a href="https://www.menstrual-matters.com/ml-alternatives-5/">actions</a> are not quite as simple or catchy as “menstrual leave”, they would at least make a positive difference in the lives of millions of workers – without unintentionally worsening gender inequalities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199568/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sally King is the founder of Menstrual Matters. Her doctoral research was funded by the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council). She is affiliated with the Women's Equality Party and a board member of the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research. </span></em></p>
Sex-based policies can lead to backlash and further discrimination in the workplace.
Sally King, PhD Candidate, Department of Global Health & Social Medicine, King's College London
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/201735
2023-03-15T16:54:17Z
2023-03-15T16:54:17Z
Parental leave: offer dads proper benefits and they will take time off to care for their children
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514954/original/file-20230313-24-xdy0ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C4%2C2982%2C2052&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/es/image-photo/handsome-young-man-working-home-laptop-1684593163">Maria Svetlychnaja / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When a working woman becomes a mother, she automatically becomes part of the “working mothers” collective. The same, however, is not true for men: the term “working father” is not a term that is commonly used, although everyone understands its meaning.</p>
<p>Since language is never neutral, it is easy to understand why this difference exists: according to social norms, motherhood is a primary source of identity for women, yet fatherhood is not for men. That’s why it is not surprising that even the policies and measures established for creating a work, personal life and family balance have been mainly aimed at women and only residually at men.</p>
<p>The situation, nevertheless, is slowly changing in Europe, since men also want to take part in childcare and since the demographic context compels them to take on a serious role in the duty and the right to provide care.</p>
<h2>Parents who adapt their work to create a balance</h2>
<p>Research on reconciling work and family life coined the term known as the “one-and-a-half earner model” to refer to the core family model where both parents work but one of them (usually the woman in heterosexual couples) reduces her working time in order to take on childcare obligations.</p>
<p>Although this model is especially widespread in central European countries such as <a href="https://www.men-in-care.eu/fileadmin/WWP_Network/redakteure/Projects/MiC/Benchmarking_reports/MiC_report_AT.pdf">Austria</a> and <a href="https://www.men-in-care.eu/fileadmin/WWP_Network/redakteure/Projects/MiC/Benchmarking_reports/MiC_report_DE.pdf">Germany</a>, the underlying cause of this model (where it is the woman who subordinates herself, adapts or even renounces her work life in order to raise her children) is common in many other countries.</p>
<p>Thus, in Europe as a whole, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gwao.12948">about 6.4% of fathers</a> (compared to 34% of mothers) with dependent children up to the age of 15 have adapted their work in some major way as a result of their paternity, such as reducing their working hours, working part-time or switching to less demanding tasks. This percentage ranges, however, from less than 5% in most of the eastern countries up to more than 20% in the Netherlands or Switzerland (with relatively high percentages in the Nordic countries as well).</p>
<p>Although the profile of these working parents varies according to the countries, in addition to the type of adaptation they make, in Europe as a whole it is more likely that adaptations have been made in the case of white-collar workers (except managers), when the contract is temporary, in the case of the self-employed, when the partner works more than 40 hours and has a high level of education, and when they work in “family-responsible” companies (understood as those that at least offer time flexibility to their staff).</p>
<h2>Actions that companies can take</h2>
<p>During the 2019-2022 period, the <a href="https://www.men-in-care.eu/">Men in Care European project</a>, co-funded by the European Commission, implemented actions in companies and organisations in eight European countries to promote male joint responsibility and thereby progress towards a society in which men also put care at the centre of their lives.</p>
<p>The public policies that most encourage parents to start providing care with the arrival of their first baby were studied. It was determined that <a href="https://www.men-in-care.eu/fileadmin/WWP_Network/redakteure/Projects/MiC/MiC_context_tnr_report_sep_2021.pdf">countries with non-transferable and well-paid birth or parental leave</a> have more parents who use them compared to countries that have transferable, poorly paid or low-capped policies.</p>
<p>In Spain, Iceland, Norway and Slovenia, parents used the benefits much more than in Germany, Austria or Poland. Since 2021, <a href="https://www.men-in-care.eu/fileadmin/WWP_Network/redakteure/Projects/MiC/conference/0930_Teresa_Jurado_Revised.pdf">Spain</a> has become the only country in the world to offer non-transferable, equal leave for mothers and fathers. </p>
<p>After a baby’s first year of life, which can be essentially covered by the different leaves of absence from employment, companies can promote joint responsibility in care through other policies used by men, such as reducing overtime, compressing the working day, adapting working hours and work shifts to childcare needs, a 30-to-35-hour working week without salary reduction, and regulated and voluntary remote work.</p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.men-in-care.eu/fileadmin/WWP_Network/redakteure/Projects/MiC/220314_MiC_Guidelines_Poster_Final_ENG.pdf">infographic</a> and <a href="https://www.men-in-care.eu/fileadmin/WWP_Network/redakteure/Projects/MiC/220314_MiC_Guidelines_Final_ENG.pdf">a company guide</a> have been drawn up to explain how to support male caregivers in seven steps and the benefits for companies. Workshops have also been held with working parents and management staff, which interested entities can request through <a href="https://www.uned.es/universidad/docentes/politicas-sociologia/teresa-jurado-guerrero.html">the Spanish National Distance Education University (UNED)</a>. Lastly, the project’s partner organisations make <a href="https://www.men-in-care.eu/fileadmin/WWP_Network/redakteure/Projects/MiC/220314_MiC_Political_Recommendations_ENG.pdf">seven policy recommendations</a> at the European level to incorporate men into caregiving.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201735/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Irina Fernández Lozano has received research funding from the European Commission and the Ministry of Science and Innovation.</span></em></p>
Spain is the only country in the world with the same length of maternity leave for mothers and fathers from 2021.
Irina Fernández Lozano, Profesora de Sociología, UNED - Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/198197
2023-01-20T13:38:40Z
2023-01-20T13:38:40Z
Jacinda Ardern’s resignation shows that women still face an uphill battle in politics – an expert on female leaders answers 5 key questions
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505462/original/file-20230119-22-i0pfzf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=273%2C26%2C2541%2C1967&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jacinda Ardern and partner, Clarke Gayford, leave after she announced her resignation in New Zealand. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1457526356/photo/new-zealand-prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-resigns.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=_NSemdi9WvrsoQ5HPyK7fJT_0FbznnVzlu96YJcPPmU=">Kerry Marshall/Getty Images </a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-new-zealand-government-covid-jacinda-ardern-0e6d8eedd96f94aab07eeb0c37164591">announced on Jan. 19, 2023, that she will soon</a> resign from office. “I know what this job takes. And I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice,” Ardern said.</em></p>
<p><em>Ardern was 37 when she was elected prime minister in 2017, and is the youngest female head of government to have served in any country. During her tenure, Ardern oversaw the country’s strict COVID-19 response and also dealt with other crises like the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/tag/new-zealand-attack/">Christchurch mosque shooting</a> in 2019.</em></p>
<p><em>The prime minister also received unwanted attention that many observers – and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywfaIaY9ogE">Ardern herself</a> – <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/01/19/jacinda-ardern-resign-sexism-battles/">dubbed sexist</a>. This included questions and comments about Ardern’s plans to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/02/unacceptable-new-zealands-labour-leader-asked-about-baby-plans-six-hours-into-job">have a child</a>, as well as about <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/19/jacinda-ardern-pregnant-new-zealand-prime-minister-mother-mum-nz-pm">her eventual pregnancy</a> in office. Ardern herself noted in her <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/world/jacinda-ardern-resignation-prime-minister-new-zealand-speech-b2265319.html">resignation speech</a> that she is looking forward to spending more time with family once she leaves office in February.</em></p>
<p><em>She also addressed her young daughter, saying, “And so to Neve, Mum is looking forward to being there when you start school this year.”</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation U.S. spoke with Virginia Tech <a href="https://liberalarts.vt.edu/departments-and-schools/department-of-political-science/faculty/farida-jalalzai.html">political science scholar</a> and women in politics expert <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=V1xQj_0AAAAJ&hl=en">Farida Jalalzai</a> to provide context about the unique challenges facing Ardern and other women in positions of power.</em></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505465/original/file-20230119-16-7uvceq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two young white women wear formal clothing and appear at podiums." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505465/original/file-20230119-16-7uvceq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505465/original/file-20230119-16-7uvceq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505465/original/file-20230119-16-7uvceq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505465/original/file-20230119-16-7uvceq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505465/original/file-20230119-16-7uvceq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505465/original/file-20230119-16-7uvceq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505465/original/file-20230119-16-7uvceq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jacinda Ardern, right, fended off questions from a reporter in 2022 about whether she was meeting with Sanna Marin, prime minister of Finland, because they had so much in common.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1445549087/photo/finlands-pm-marin-meets-nzs-pm-ardern.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=MdgqrVTJT-FMkOH9gSSiWRHAnqJn0eNXBddeynHiMA8=">Dave Rowland/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>1. What does Ardern’s resignation say about the experiences of women in top political jobs?</h2>
<p>Women in leadership positions will get asked certain questions that men do not. New Zealand is obviously a country that has had many women in political positions – Ardern was the <a href="https://teara.govt.nz/en/gender-inequalities/page-3">third female prime minister</a> there. Still, Ardern, for example, faced questions about her appearance and personal life, like <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/23/ardern-new-zealand-covid-wedding-00000554">her plans for</a> marrying her partner. </p>
<p>Men tend to receive less media coverage about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqz046">their personal lives</a>. People also tend to think of places like New Zealand as countries where women have shattered the glass ceiling, politically speaking. But if this kind of sexist questioning and speculation is what’s happening at the highest levels in the most egalitarian societies like New Zealand, then of course it must be happening in all of these other places where women are facing political violence, for example. </p>
<h2>2. How can having a woman as a political leader impact societies and the way they consider gender?</h2>
<p>When women hold really visible positions worldwide, that sends a signal to the public that politics is more open and that women bring competency to the position. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21565503.2018.1441034">Some of my research</a> shows that having women in these political roles has encouraged other women to become more engaged in the political system and to believe that politics is more open to everyone. It has also led men to feel similarly.</p>
<p>There is also power that comes with seeing the first woman rise to a very visible leadership position. Whereas even though Hillary Clinton didn’t clinch the presidential victory in 2016, it certainly seemed to shape people’s views of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/13/sunday-review/hillary-clinton-feminist-movement.html">what was possible</a>. I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that in <a href="https://cawp.rutgers.edu/election-watch/women-percentage-2022-major-party-candidates-and-nominees">the following election</a>, so many more women – and women of diverse backgrounds – threw their hats in the ring, even at local and state levels.</p>
<h2>3. What are the risks, if any, facing women in these high-profile roles?</h2>
<p>I’ve written about, for example, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/01/world/americas/brazil-dilma-rousseff-impeached-removed-president.html">2016 impeachment</a> of Brazil’s former president, Dilma Rousseff. She faced <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36303001">overt sexist attacks</a> and was the victim of essentially a witch hunt, where she ultimately did nothing that would have normally led to the corruption <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-41170460">charges she faced</a>. What we found in <a href="https://tupress.temple.edu/books/women-s-empowerment-and-disempowerment-in-brazil">a 2021 book</a> I co-authored with Pedro dos Santos was that after Rousseff’s removal, people’s beliefs that women could be competent leaders declined over the short term, for about a year. </p>
<h2>4. What’s the precedent for having a female leader with young kids?</h2>
<p>It’s uncommon for women to give birth in executive office. The other head of state or government <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/19/asia/benazir-bhutto-jacinda-ardern-female-leader-pregnancy-trnd/index.html">who was pregnant</a> during her tenure was Pakistan Prime Minister <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/ardern-and-bhutto-two-different-pregnancies-in-power/M7KUU6G52PTAXAUDXFFFPKWFXQ/">Benazir Bhutto</a> in 1990. There was a deliberate attempt by Bhutto’s opposition to schedule elections for when she was having the baby. But she cleverly lied about the due date so that she could throw the opposition off, because she knew that they were going to try to make it impossible for her to campaign. </p>
<p>Ardern took <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/02/jacinda-ardern-return-work-new-zealand-pm-birth-baby">six weeks off</a> for maternity leave. But cases of women with very young children are still few and far between because women tend to wait until they’re older to become part of the political realm – and then it takes awhile to make it to the top. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505467/original/file-20230119-13-ag3f3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman with brown skin wears a headscarf and flowing clothing and holds up a small white piece of paper." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505467/original/file-20230119-13-ag3f3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505467/original/file-20230119-13-ag3f3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505467/original/file-20230119-13-ag3f3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505467/original/file-20230119-13-ag3f3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505467/original/file-20230119-13-ag3f3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505467/original/file-20230119-13-ag3f3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505467/original/file-20230119-13-ag3f3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was the first female head of state to give birth in office, in 1990.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/561491641/photo/benazir-bhutto.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=8G-eMPcgLL29VGG0FY69T9Yd9Q7Q94kcE4PgT47bGaU=">Derek Hudson/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>5. Has there been a shift over the last few years in how women in politics address their personal lives?</h2>
<p>It’s becoming more common to not hide that personal side of yourself. In a way, female leaders in politics can control the narrative if they don’t hide the facts, or they could even make that a positive aspect of their tenure. </p>
<p>Michelle Bachelet, who was the president of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and then again from 2014 to 2018, was a <a href="https://www.salon.com/2005/12/10/president_4/">single mom</a>. When she ran for office, she gained a lot of support from single mothers and working mothers, who understood what it’s <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Women-Presidents-of-Latin-America-Beyond-Family-Ties/Jalalzai/p/book/9781138782716">like to be in the same position</a>. </p>
<p>But generally, women in positions of power have to achieve balance in such a way that you don’t want to come across as too hard and too aggressive, because they will get hit for that. If they are conceived of as overly soft and an emotional person, then they are going to get criticized for that, as well. There isn’t an easy way around it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198197/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Farida Jalalzai does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Female leaders tend to open people’s perceptions of what is possible for other women in politics – but the job is also still fraught with double standards and unique risks.
Farida Jalalzai, Professor of Political Science; Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Virginia Tech
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/189766
2022-09-21T13:11:47Z
2022-09-21T13:11:47Z
12% of working women in South Africa are domestic workers – yet they don’t receive proper maternity leave or pay
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484527/original/file-20220914-17-zlu3u9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">GettyImages</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Most of the world’s domestic workers – <a href="https://www.wiego.org/sites/default/files/publications/file/WIEGO_Statistical_Brief_N32_DWs%20in%20the%20World.pdf">(76%)</a> – are women. They mainly do housework like cleaning, washing clothes, cooking and childcare, usually in private households. Domestic workers often have low incomes and are excluded from basic labour rights and employment benefits like pensions and paid leave. </p>
<p>There are over <a href="https://www.wiego.org/sites/default/files/publications/file/WIEGO_Statistical_Brief_N32_DWs%20in%20the%20World.pdf">76 million</a> domestic workers globally, representing between 1% and 2% of the global workforce. Around <a href="https://www.wiego.org/sites/default/files/publications/file/WIEGO_Statistical_Brief_N32_DWs%20in%20the%20World.pdf">80%</a> of domestic workers work informally. </p>
<p>Of all working women in South Africa, around <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0211/P02112ndQuarter2022.pdf#page=70">12%</a> work as domestic workers. These workers have little or no safety nets. This form of work takes place in people’s homes, quite a personal context. It’s therefore difficult to make sure the sector applies regulatory frameworks. Domestic workers often depend on the goodwill of their employer to access components of maternity protection.</p>
<p>The International Labour Organization offers a definition of comprehensive maternity protection. It includes health protection at the workplace and a period of maternity leave. Women should get cash payments and medical benefits while on maternity leave. They should have job security and not face discrimination. Daily breastfeeding breaks and childcare support are also part of the protection package. </p>
<p>My colleagues and I <a href="https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-022-04944-0">recently</a> described what maternity protection is available to non-standard workers in South Africa. This category includes temporary, part-time and casual workers. We specifically focused on domestic workers as a vulnerable sub-group.</p>
<p>South Africa’s laws and regulations <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35808809/">incorporate some elements</a> of global maternity protection recommendations. Non-standard workers are supposed to get health protection in the workplace, maternity leave and job security. They should not be discriminated against. But the policy framework is fragmented. And it’s difficult for employers and employees to interpret. </p>
<p>We found that domestic workers struggled to access maternity protection benefits – particularly cash payments while on maternity leave. This is because of gaps in the legislation, and employers not complying with relevant laws. Women may lose their income for the months they are on maternity leave.</p>
<p>Workplaces and employers need to be encouraged to go beyond minimum national requirements. They must aim to be in line with progressive global guidance. Workplaces, employers, managers, and members of society should intentionally contribute to supportive environments for women to be able to combine their work and family responsibilities. This could result in improved breastfeeding practices, which would play a role in improving the health and development of future generations.</p>
<h2>Maternity protection</h2>
<p>Maternity protection is available in South Africa for some non-standard workers. These provisions are dispersed across various documents and government departments. </p>
<p>We identified 29 policy and legislative documents that contain provisions on maternity protection relevant to non-standard workers. Most of these documents were from the Department of Employment and Labour. </p>
<p>The components of maternity protection are scattered through many policy documents. For example, to understand the cash payments that domestic workers are entitled to when on maternity leave, one needs to consult a number of different laws. These include the <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/a63-010.pdf">Unemployment Insurance Act</a> (2001), the <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/a4-02.pdf">Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act</a> (2002) and the <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201411/38237rg10319gon919.pdf">Sectoral Determination for Domestic Work</a> (2002), among others. </p>
<p>And there is weak alignment within government. For example, the National Department of Employment and Labour is responsible for labour legislation, which contain provisions on maternity protection. The National Department of Health implements health policy – some of which is relevant for maternity protection. But there are no clear communication channels or coordination between these two departments. Implementation, monitoring and enforcement of existing maternity protection policy are inadequate.</p>
<p>When women do not receive some form of income replacement (cash payment) while on maternity leave, they are not able to make full use of the maternity leave period available to them. They often return to work earlier than recommended. This has consequences for the care of their newborn. It also interferes with the establishment of breastfeeding. </p>
<p>All components of maternity protection need to be available and accessible for working women to be able to recover from childbirth, care for their new baby and establish breastfeeding. There is substantial <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(15)01044-2/fulltext">evidence</a> to support the many short- and long-term health, economic and environmental benefits of breastfeeding for children, women and society. </p>
<p>The most recent South African National Demographic Health Survey shows that only <a href="https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR337/FR337.pdf#page=214">32%</a> of infants under six months are exclusively breastfed. The World Health Assembly has recommended that the global target for exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months be increased to <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-NMH-NHD-14.2">50%</a> in all countries by 2025. Political support and financial investment are required to protect, promote and support breastfeeding and therefore create the conditions to give children the best start in life. </p>
<h2>Improving access</h2>
<p>The diversity of non-standard employment makes it especially challenging for many women to access maternity protection. Women in the <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/csw61/women-in-informal-economy">informal economy</a> make up a significant proportion of the workforce, especially in Africa. This is why it’s important to consider their labour-related rights. </p>
<p>Government – specifically the National Department of Employment and Labour – needs to ensure that the efficiency and accessibility of current social protection mechanisms such as the unemployment insurance fund are improved. One way of doing this could be making it easier for employers to find information on how to comply with relevant labour legislation, including that which enables access to maternity protection. </p>
<p>Lessons learned from the South African context could be applied to other low- and middle-income countries where non-standard employment is common and similar challenges to access maternity protection are experienced. </p>
<p>Making comprehensive maternity protection available and accessible to all women has potential long-term benefits to women’s and children’s health and development.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189766/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Pereira-Kotze receives funding from the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence for Food Security - <a href="https://foodsecurity.ac.za/">https://foodsecurity.ac.za/</a> </span></em></p>
The domestic workers’ place of work, as a private household, is difficult to monitor. It is therefore challenging for government to enforce current legislation.
Catherine Pereira-Kotze, PhD candidate, University of the Western Cape
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/179539
2022-04-06T12:23:08Z
2022-04-06T12:23:08Z
Paid family leave makes people happier, global data shows
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455648/original/file-20220331-20-lmaos1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1131%2C6585%2C3653&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Caring for a newborn can be joyous.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/parents-with-baby-girl-sitting-on-sofa-royalty-free-image/1291784765">Johner Images via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The U.S. <a href="https://www.abc10.com/article/news/verify/government-verify/paid-family-maternity-leave-united-states-one-of-handful-countries-without-guarantee/536-d24f5921-835a-4c48-ae90-a0bbb00c5b77">remains the only</a> advanced economy <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-us-is-stingier-with-child-care-and-maternity-leave-than-the-rest-of-the-world-94770">without federal paid leave</a>, despite overwhelming <a href="https://theconversation.com/82-of-americans-want-paid-maternity-leave-making-it-as-popular-as-chocolate-159897">support for this benefit</a>.</p>
<p>Employers are free to provide this benefit at their own expense. But only <a href="https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/factsheet/family-leave-benefits-fact-sheet.htm">1 in 4 U.S. workers</a>, including <a href="https://www.commerce.gov/hr/paid-parental-leave-federal-employees">federal employees</a>, can take paid time off to care for a newborn or a newly adopted or fostered child. That’s problematic for many reasons, including the abundant evidence that paid leave boosts healthy <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1293603.pdf">childhood development</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/703138">economic security</a>.</p>
<p>President Joe Biden has sought to <a href="https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/benefits/pages/how-bidens-paid-fmla-proposal-would-work.aspx">expand access to paid family leave</a>, initially through his <a href="https://19thnews.org/2021/12/us-universal-paid-leave-build-back-better/">Build Back Better</a> package, which is now on hold. He reasserted his calls to do so in his March 2022 <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/03/01/remarks-of-president-joe-biden-state-of-the-union-address-as-delivered/">State of the Union address</a>.</p>
<p>Based on our extensive research regarding the connections between <a href="https://scholar.google.co.jp/citations?user=sqnXS-sAAAAJ&hl=en">social policies</a> and the <a href="https://arts-sciences.buffalo.edu/content/dam/arts-sciences/sociology/faculty/department-profiles/Kristen%20Schultz%20Lee%20updated%20CV.pdf">happiness of families</a>, we’re certain that expanding access to paid leave to more employees would make them happier.</p>
<p><iframe id="BH1Bp" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/BH1Bp/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Children and unhappy parents</h2>
<p>In recent years, a growing number of studies have indicated that <a href="https://contexts.org/articles/the-joys-of-parenthood-reconsidered/">parents, particularly in the United States</a>, are <a href="https://www.vox.com/22577373/do-i-want-kids-parenthood-baby-childfree">generally less happy</a> than their childless peers, especially when their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0190272520902453">children are little</a>.</p>
<p>Parents also experience more <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/002214650504600403">depression</a>, <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1177%2F17579139211018243">loneliness</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0190272520902453">stress</a>.</p>
<p>Some scholars argue that a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/688892">lack of government support</a> for raising kids is causing this “<a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/happiest-parents-country/">happiness gap</a>.”</p>
<p>Only 6.3% of 3-year-olds and just over 33% of 4-year-olds nationwide are enrolled in a <a href="https://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/YB2020_Executive_Summary_080521.pdf">state-funded preschool program</a>, although free early childhood education is becoming more common. Likewise, just <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2021-11/57631-Paid-Leave.pdf">nine states</a> and the District of Columbia now provide paid family leave for new parents.</p>
<p>In other words, most U.S. families are still being left behind. And without universal free pre-K or <a href="https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/fact-sheet/paid-leave-in-u-s/">paid family leave</a>, many parents are <a href="https://www.readingrockets.org/article/pre-k-across-country">largely on their own</a> in terms of finding and paying for private child care for young children.</p>
<p>Paid family leave of at least a month can help parents to develop more <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0192513X17728984">fulfilling family relationships</a>. For example, it can allow parents to spend more time reading and singing to their child, which benefits cognitive development.</p>
<p>The effects of paid leave on the relationship between parents depends on who is taking the leave. If only mothers take family leave, then <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/651384">gender inequality in housework</a> increases. But when fathers take paid leave, couples share their housework responsibilities and child care <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/703115">more equally</a>.</p>
<p>This is because when both parents take a leave after the arrival of a new child, they are more likely to establish household routines that result in an equal sharing of household tasks. One study found that when fathers were encouraged to take a parental leave, their participation in household tasks increased by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/703115">250%</a>.</p>
<p>When parents are free to take <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1293603">more time off work</a> to care for their infants and newly adopted children with fewer financial costs and little fear of job loss – and especially when dads are encouraged to take time off – both children and their parents are happier.</p>
<h2>Global perspectives</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.abc-clio.com/products/A4471C/">Through our research</a> spanning <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sot094">27 countries</a>, we’ve found that parents in wealthy countries with weak safety nets – <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/06/23/the-social-safety-net-the-gaps-that-covid-19-spotlights/">such as the U.S.</a> – tend to be less happy than their counterparts in countries <a href="https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/case-danish-style-safety-net">like Denmark</a> where the government provides everyone with more support. </p>
<p>This is one reason Finland, Norway and other nations with strong welfare states <a href="https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/happiness/OECD/">consistently rank</a> at the top of the <a href="https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2022/happiness-benevolence-and-trust-during-covid-19-and-beyond/#ranking-of-happiness-2019-2021">World Happiness Report</a>, an annual assessment based on Gallup World Poll data. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6609-9_14">U.S. ranks lower than would be predicted</a> in that report given its economic standing, while the opposite is true in the case of Denmark, Canada, New Zealand and other welfare states.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sot094">We’ve also found that</a> when governments step up their spending on social programs and adjust tax burdens to make the rich shoulder more of the costs of running the government, economic inequality declines. At the same time, the happiness levels of low-income and high-income people become more similar.</p>
<p>Higher social spending especially increases the happiness of women with small children and people who are cohabiting but unmarried. Other international research shows greater <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/679627">economic</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20190022">mental health</a>
benefits of paid leave for low-income families.</p>
<p><a href="https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2020/the-nordic-exceptionalism-what-explains-why-the-nordic-countries-are-constantly-among-the-happiest-in-the-world">Recent</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sou010">research</a> by other scholars who study countries that have invested heavily in social welfare policies like paid family leave further supports our findings.</p>
<p>Respondents in the <a href="https://econpapers.repec.org/article/blaecinqu/v_3a51_3ay_3a2013_3ai_3a1_3ap_3a1-15.htm">world’s most generous welfare states</a> were more satisfied with their work, health and family life than people in places with weaker safety nets.</p>
<p>As one notable example, a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oep/gpab038">recent study</a> that one of us co-authored showed that the Japanese government’s investments in generous paid leave for families with small children, access to child care, child allowances and free health insurance for children, as well as increased benefits for older adults, were associated with modest gains in overall happiness.</p>
<p>These policies made significant differences for women with small children and older people, who became happier between 1990 and 2010.</p>
<h2>Losing benefits can decrease happiness</h2>
<p>In addition, there is evidence of what can happen when government benefits that meet many people’s needs are taken away. In the <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/happiness-growth-and-the-life-cycle-9780199597093?cc=jp&lang=en&#">former German Democratic Republic</a>, satisfaction generally rose between 1990, just before its transition to a free-market economy from a communist state, and 2004 in terms of the freedom to buy goods and services.</p>
<p>On the other hand, that same study found that satisfaction in the place that also used to be called East Germany plummeted concerning health, work and child care. People had been guaranteed access to health care and child care, as well as job security, under communist rule – but all of that changed when that system collapsed.</p>
<p>Federal paid leave gives families a chance to find their footing after the arrival of a new child, without having to quit their job or take unpaid time off. It should come as no surprise that such a safety net would make families not only economically more secure, but happier too.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=weekly&source=inline-weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179539/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hiroshi Ono receives funding from Japan Society for Promotion of Science.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristen Schultz Lee does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
This important benefit does more than just help parents in terms of dollars and cents.
Kristen Schultz Lee, Associate Professor of Sociology, University at Buffalo
Hiroshi Ono, Professor of Human Resource Management, School of International Corporate Strategy, Hitotsubashi University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/163696
2021-07-09T11:07:01Z
2021-07-09T11:07:01Z
Refusal to give MP maternity cover is a missed opportunity for more equitable parliament
<p>Parliaments and other legislative bodies are responsible for creating equality legislation – but does this apply to their own members? This is the question that <a href="https://members.parliament.uk/member/4088/contact">British MP Stella Creasy</a> is asking with her personal fight for maternity rights and parental leave.</p>
<p>Creasy is<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-57645974">challenging the decision</a> of the UK’s <a href="https://www.theipsa.org.uk">Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority</a> (IPSA) to not allow her to appoint maternity cover for the duration of her pregnancy. In doing so, she is fighting a battle not just for herself and her colleagues, but for changing gender roles and expectations in the workforce nationwide.</p>
<p>This is an important case on two levels. First, it starts a discussion about the ongoing impact of motherhood, maternity leave and childcare on paid employment and career opportunities. </p>
<p>Second, it helps us understand why representation matters in formal politics. The way political institutions accommodate MPs with caring responsibilities says something about the economic and political priorities of the country. </p>
<p>The formal and informal practices intended to support MPs during periods of maternity leave have been under scrutiny since 2018, when Jo Swinson’s pairing in a key Brexit vote was <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-44867866">broken while she was on maternity leave</a>. </p>
<p>It is difficult to forget the image of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/feb/12/tulip-siddiq-i-needed-a-caesarean-instead-i-was-at-parliament">Tulip Siddiq, 37 weeks pregnant, in the House of Commons for another Brexit vote </a>, having been denied a proxy vote by the same IPSA. Creasy has herself already challenged parliamentary norms when <a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/stella-creasy-labour-party-maternity-leave-cover-346711">she appointed a “locum MP” to cover her maternity leave in 2019</a>. </p>
<p>Progress appeared to be made in the last 18 months when <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8359/">Parliament formalised “proxy voting” for members on parental leave</a>, and subsequently approved the <a href="https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/2826/news">Ministerial and Maternal Allowances Bill</a> that updated preexisting legislation from the 1970s. These are significant changes to the working practices of the House of Commons that acknowledge the importance of inclusion and representation within political institutions. </p>
<p>When it comes to political representation, these changes reflect a shift in perception about the role of women – especially those with caring responsibilities – in politics. </p>
<h2>Global challenge</h2>
<p>The cases among the UK’s women MPs remind us of the need to strive for more equitable parliaments.</p>
<p>The Inter-Parliamentary Union, a global organisation of national parliaments, defines <a href="https://www.ipu.org/our-impact/gender-equality/gender-sensitive-parliaments">gender-sensitive parliaments</a> as “institutions that are founded on gender equality, where women and men have an equal right to participate without discrimination or recrimination”. </p>
<p>The organisation adopted a <a href="https://www.ipu.org/resources/publications/reference/2016-07/plan-action-gender-sensitive-parliaments">Plan of Action in 2012</a>, which stipulates that parliamentarians have access to maternity and parental leave. Additionally, the plan calls for flexibility for parliamentarians who are breastfeeding, to encourage reconciliation of work and family life. Sadly, progress in implementing these principles globally remains fairly slow.</p>
<p>Seeing women attending parliamentary sittings <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-45638201">with their children</a> is a powerful image that normalises the participation of mothers in politics. “Multitasking” has symbolic power demonstrating that mothers belong in parliament. However, it also highlights the challenges faced by women parliamentarians the world over. Progress in this area would be more women in politics, but fewer who are forced to multitask. </p>
<p>This is not a challenge faced by <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2020/03/09/female-parliamentarians-still-face-a-motherhood-penalty-but-the-evidence-globally-suggests-it-can-be-ended/">male MPs with caring responsibilities</a>. Whereas female MPs seem forced to juggle work and family life, including bringing children in parliament, male MPs are afforded the space to focus on their parliamentary duties. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2016/556937/IPOL_IDA(2016)556937_EN.pdf">European Parliament’s 2016 analysis</a> of maternity leave provisions highlights a high level of variability between EU member states. </p>
<p>Many national assemblies lack a detailed framework for maternity and parental leave, though increasingly this is recognised as a “valid reason” for MPs absences. Where provisions are made for maternity leave, the focus is on pay. Few provide the option of a temporary cover for MPs who are absent. In this respect the UK is not unique. </p>
<h2>Institutions over individuals</h2>
<p>National assemblies are struggling to formulate processes that address the gender bias at the heart of parliamentary processes and procedures. By shifting the focus of our analysis on the institution, rather than the individual MPs, we can start to assess how political institutions actively exclude individuals and groups. This matters because it makes the institutions less representative and inclusive. </p>
<p>IPSA’s decision to turn down Creasy’s request for a “locum MP” is a missed opportunity to modernise the world of politics. What matters here should not be the individual choice of MPs to take maternity leave, but the way <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/news/2016/july/20%20Jul%20Prof%20Sarah%20Childs%20The%20Good%20Parliament%20report.pdf">political institutions facilitate</a> the <a href="https://www.ipu.org/resources/publications/reference/2016-07/plan-action-gender-sensitive-parliaments">inclusion of different</a> groups, including parents with caring responsibilities. </p>
<p>It is Parliament that is responsible to ensure its members are treated equally and have equal opportunities to participate in the life and work of the institution. It is therefore incumbent upon Parliament to assess its practices and change those where necessary. In so doing, representative bodies, such as the House of Commons, will play an important role in modelling the opportunities open to employers by actively opening a space for equality and inclusion.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163696/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roberta Guerrina does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Labour MP Stella Creasy’s battle over maternity pay shows the need for gender-sensitive parliaments.
Roberta Guerrina, Professor of Politics and Director of the Gender Research Centre, University of Bristol, University of Bristol
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/157950
2021-06-03T18:48:24Z
2021-06-03T18:48:24Z
Pregnancy loss: Workplaces must recognize its physical and emotional toll
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404292/original/file-20210603-21-136x3nd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=81%2C0%2C5381%2C3555&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The physical and psychological symptoms experienced during and after pregnancy loss can be profound, including trauma, heavy blood loss, fatigue, poor concentration and severe abdominal cramping. Workplaces need to treat pregnancy loss seriously.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Organizations and governments around the world are increasingly recognizing the need for policies that support employees who have experienced pregnancy loss.</p>
<p>Channel 4, the British public service broadcaster, recently <a href="https://www.channel4.com/corporate/pregnancy-loss-policy">launched a pioneering pregnancy loss policy</a> that includes leave options, counselling resources and guidance for managers. According to Alex Mahon, head of Channel 4:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We recognize that the loss of a pregnancy, no matter the circumstances, can be a form of grief that can have a lasting emotional and physical impact on the lives of many women and their partners.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.today.com/parents/miscarriage-leave-new-frontier-parental-benefits-t173482">Reddit offers 8.5 weeks paid leave after pregnancy loss</a>. And <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/03/26/new-zealand-miscarriage-bereavement-law/">New Zealand recently passed legislation</a> allowing three days of paid bereavement leave after any stage of pregnancy loss. </p>
<p>Such policies legitimize pregnancy loss as an experience that merits both physical and psychological recovery — a topic we are currently examining through a series of research studies in Canada and the United States. </p>
<h2>The toll of pregnancy loss</h2>
<p>The physical and psychological symptoms experienced during and after pregnancy loss <a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/06/miscarriage">can be profound</a>, including trauma, heavy blood loss, fatigue, poor concentration and severe abdominal cramping. Some people also undergo surgical procedures or experience vaginal or caesarean delivery following pregnancy loss. </p>
<p>After a seven-week ectopic pregnancy loss, one father who participated in one of our studies said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Not only are you dealing with that loss, but… you also have that road to recovery from the surgery and to compound things for (my wife), she had two surgeries and another hospital stay. So, there’s a lot of additional trauma to that loss as well. Not only is your mind going through hell, your body’s going through hell too, physically and mentally.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00682-6">recent article series in the <em>Lancet</em></a> highlighted the psychological effects of pregnancy loss, indicating that people who have experienced miscarriage are at twice the risk of experiencing depression and anxiety and four times the risk of suicide. Such effects are likely to influence work outcomes. After a 12-week pregnancy loss, one woman told us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Loss totally shifts your world. I find I’m less motivated these days … I just don’t feel like work takes care of me as much as I thought I needed it to. So why am I changing my life around for work?”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Sick leave, bereavement leave or no leave</h2>
<p>Although <a href="https://pailnetwork.sunnybrook.ca/about-us/awareness/pregnancy-and-infant-loss-awareness-day/">one in five pregnancies will end in loss</a>, people experiencing pregnancy loss tend to fall through the cracks when it comes to formal paid leave options. Often, employees, managers, and even some human resources professionals are unsure of what supports and leave options employees might be entitled to. </p>
<p>Pregnancy loss is rarely specified in bereavement leave policies, making it an uncommon leave option for employees (only 14 per cent of the participants in our study took bereavement leave). </p>
<p>Many employees report taking sick leave, vacation time, unpaid leave or short-term disability — many of which may come at the employee’s expense and often involve the burden of lengthy paperwork. Another woman who took sick leave through an insurance company after her loss told us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“They had to keep sending me the form like every five weeks or something. And I was like ‘I had a pregnancy loss. Five weeks later, I still had a pregnancy loss. Why do you have to keep asking?… I could have just done maternity leave. And you wouldn’t have bothered me for a year… and I don’t have to fill out the stupid forms.’”</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman gazes out of a commuter vehicle window." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403836/original/file-20210601-15-zki2xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4896%2C3158&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403836/original/file-20210601-15-zki2xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403836/original/file-20210601-15-zki2xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403836/original/file-20210601-15-zki2xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403836/original/file-20210601-15-zki2xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403836/original/file-20210601-15-zki2xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403836/original/file-20210601-15-zki2xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Workplaces are increasingly treating pregnancy loss with more compassion and understanding, but there’s a lot more work to be done.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Piqsels)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Working women who have experienced pregnancy loss in Canada <a href="https://www.todaysparent.com/getting-pregnant/trying-to-conceive/paid-leave-after-miscarriage-canada/">are often eligible</a> for some form of <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei.html">Employment Insurance</a>. But their entitlement to those benefits is often poorly communicated — 83 per cent of our participants were unaware of these programs. One woman who lost her baby at the 25-week mark of her pregnancy was eligible for maternity leave through the government. She told us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“(Maternity leave) was never discussed with me… it was never offered to me that I should consider taking maternity benefits.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Other employees, perceiving no other alternative, <a href="https://www.today.com/parents/miscarriage-leave-new-frontier-parental-benefits-t173482">simply take no leave at all</a> — working through a pregnancy loss or returning to work immediately after undergoing surgery or giving birth.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-painful-collision-between-work-life-and-pregnancy-loss-151196">The painful collision between work life and pregnancy loss</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What workplaces can do</h2>
<p>We advocate for a comprehensive and compassionate approach to supporting employees after pregnancy loss that includes inclusive leave options, as well as other forms of support. Such support may involve providing <a href="https://www.siop.org/Portals/84/Conference/2020/Program/SatAm.pdf">what we call CARE</a> to employees: </p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>Communicating</strong> clearly with the employee about their leave options (like government assistance or bereavement or extended sick leave that is inclusive of pregnancy loss) and available resources (like end-of-pregnancy support programs);</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Accommodating</strong> the employees’ needs in the return-to-work process and training managers on how to appropriately accommodate employees (for example flex time, work-from-home options);</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Recognizing</strong> the loss as legitimate bereavement, which serves to destigmatize and validate the employees’ pain;</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Emotionally supporting</strong> the employee by showing compassion and building a supportive and healthy workplace that provides a safe environment for employees to disclose their loss and receive support.</p></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157950/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Gilbert receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Canadian Institutes of Health Research and is a board member for Gardens of Grace.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacquelyn Brady and Jennifer Dimoff do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Research shows women who have experienced miscarriage are at twice the risk of experiencing depression and anxiety and four times the risk of suicide. That’s why workplaces need to step up.
Stephanie Gilbert, Assistant Professor of Organizational Management, Cape Breton University
Jacquelyn Brady, Assistant Professor of Psychology, San José State University
Jennifer Dimoff, Assistant Professor, Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/159897
2021-04-29T19:12:49Z
2021-04-29T19:12:49Z
82% of Americans want paid maternity leave – making it as popular as chocolate
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397674/original/file-20210428-19-tmjqes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C30%2C5155%2C2276&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Most U.S. parents who take time off work to tend to newborns currently use unpaid leave.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/katie-patel-holds-her-3-month-old-daughter-lucy-as-she-news-photo/1207641553">Whitney Curti/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397692/original/file-20210428-15-1l1ftlo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397692/original/file-20210428-15-1l1ftlo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397692/original/file-20210428-15-1l1ftlo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397692/original/file-20210428-15-1l1ftlo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397692/original/file-20210428-15-1l1ftlo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397692/original/file-20210428-15-1l1ftlo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397692/original/file-20210428-15-1l1ftlo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397692/original/file-20210428-15-1l1ftlo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The United States is <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-us-is-stingier-with-child-care-and-maternity-leave-than-the-rest-of-the-world-94770">the only wealthy nation</a> that doesn’t guarantee paid leave to mothers after they give birth or adopt a child. The vast majority of Americans would like to see that change. </p>
<p>According to a <a href="https://today.yougov.com/topics/economy/articles-reports/2021/04/15/mothers-fathers-parental-leave-poll">YouGov poll of 21,000 people conducted between March 25 and April 1, 2021</a>, 82% of Americans think employees should be able to take paid maternity leave, including for adoption. That level of support makes this benefit about as <a href="https://www.candyindustry.com/articles/88414-report-more-than-80-percent-of-adults-will-consume-chocolate-this-year">popular as chocolate</a>. In fact, more Americans want to see paid parental leave in place than would like the government to refrain from cutting their <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2019/03/21/retirement-social-security-and-long-term-care/">Social Security benefits</a>. </p>
<p>President Joe Biden’s proposed <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/28/fact-sheet-the-american-families-plan/">US$1.8 trillion package of new and expanded benefits</a>, which requires congressional approval, would eventually make it possible for all workers to take up to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-bidens-paid-leave-proposal-would-benefit-workers-their-families-and-their-employers-too-159880">12 weeks of paid family leave totaling as much as $4,000 per month</a>. This leave would be for mothers and fathers alike, as well as caring for yourself or another loved one.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=NzwC_FQAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">scholars who have extensively studied</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=6ayGbAcAAAAJ&hl=en">paid leave</a>, we have been struck by the persistence of Americans’ positive attitudes toward this benefit.</p>
<p>In our <a href="https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/hd4ct">newly released study</a> about attitudes among U.S. adults regarding paid leave based on data from 2012, 82% of Americans supported parents receiving paid leave – a proportion that’s identical to the recent YouGov poll. </p>
<p>Repeatedly, since then, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/03/23/americans-widely-support-paid-family-and-medical-leave-but-differ-over-specific-policies/">polls have found</a> that <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/27/majority-of-americans-support-progressive-policies-such-as-paid-maternity-leave-free-college.html">at least 80%</a> of Americans support paid maternity leave.</p>
<p>In an era of <a href="https://theconversation.com/political-polarization-is-about-feelings-not-facts-120397">extreme political polarization</a>, it is astounding that so many Americans can agree on anything. Strong support is even apparent across the political spectrum: <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/27/majority-of-americans-support-progressive-policies-such-as-paid-maternity-leave-free-college.html">73% of Republicans, 83% of independents and 94% of Democrats</a> back the policy. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/fact-sheet/paid-family-leave-and-sick-days-in-the-u-s/">Nine states</a> and Washington, D.C. have their own paid family leave programs, and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal-paid-parental-leave/2020/09/30/ac8e36c8-0335-11eb-b7ed-141dd88560ea_story.html">federal workers</a> got paid leave in 2020. But only <a href="https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/benefits/2020/employee-benefits-in-the-united-states-march-2020.pdf">21% of U.S. workers</a> can take paid parental leave. The lack of a federal paid leave policy that covers all employees results in the current patchwork of different policies that are difficult to understand and generally not available to most families.</p>
<p>Our research suggests that one reason why paid leave policies have not been more widespread in the U.S. is that Americans are hesitant to support government programs that may require tax hikes. For instance, slightly fewer than half of Americans endorsed using some government funding for paid leave in 2012. Yet, <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/news/2021/02/05/495504/quick-facts-paid-family-medical-leave/">there is evidence</a> that this resistance has been fading, and <a href="https://paidleave.us/state-treasurers">employers are becoming more supportive</a> of these policies as well. </p>
<p>Support for paid leave for fathers used to be relatively low. About 50% of Americans, for example, endorsed paid leave for fathers in the 2012 survey data we reviewed. With <a href="https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/wj2p6">more active fathering</a> gaining popularity since then, support for <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/03/23/americans-widely-support-paid-family-and-medical-leave-but-differ-over-specific-policies/">paid paternity leave</a> has been rising. Sixty-eight percent of those surveyed by YouGov in early 2021 backed paid leave for moms and dads alike.</p>
<p>Years of research underscores the benefits of paid <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/healthier-minds-happier-world/202003/the-benefits-paid-maternity-leave-maternal-and-child">maternity leave</a> for women and their families. Our research has demonstrated that when fathers take paternity leave, they tend to develop <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-019-01050-y">better relationships with their kids</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soz014">partners</a>, become <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-018-0994-5">more actively involved in parenting</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279419000928">get divorced less frequently</a>.</p>
<p>Given that Americans have wanted paid leave for a long time and its benefits are increasingly clear, we believe that a national paid leave policy that covers all parents is an important step to improving the quality of life in America.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159897/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Knoester received relevant funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD), Award R03HD087875.
. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard J. Petts received research funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD), Award R03HD087875. Content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.</span></em></p>
Polls have consistently found robust support for this benefit, with a growing share of the public approving of paid time off for dads.
Chris Knoester, Associate Professor of Sociology, The Ohio State University
Richard J. Petts, Professor of Sociology, Ball State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/159888
2021-04-29T13:44:49Z
2021-04-29T13:44:49Z
Gender equality: Why the UK’s shared parental leave scheme needs a rethink
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397816/original/file-20210429-17-10q60md.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The scheme has done little to shift British attitudes that see men as the breadwinners and women, the caregivers</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/FqqaJI9OxMI">Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/3050/contents/made">When the</a> shared parental leave scheme was introduced to UK workplaces six years ago, the intention - rightfully – was to get both parents involved in early childcare. Quite how this policy <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/apr/26/shared-parental-leave-scrap-deeply-flawed-policy-say-campaigners">has panned out</a>, though, has not resulted in greater gender equality. Instead, observers – from Maternity Action and the Fawcett Society to the National Childbirth Trust and the Trades Union Congress – are calling for urgent reform. </p>
<p>While the UK government argues for a more equal division of childcare duties, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-law-in-context/article/abs/shared-parental-leave-in-the-uk-can-it-advance-gender-equality-by-changing-fathers-into-coparents/E041D88CC96BAA4109E0F6740F615F36">the manner in which the policy was designed</a> suggests it is unwilling to challenge the expectation that mothers provide primary care for young children. </p>
<p>The government’s own predictions are telling. The Department for Business Innovation and Skills estimated in 2013 that out of the 285,000 eligible couples, <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/110692/13-651-modern-workplaces-shared-parental-leave-and-pay-impact-assessment2.pdf">take-up might be as low as 2% each year</a>. If the data was clear, why was a policy this flawed implemented? </p>
<h2>Glaring omissions</h2>
<p>Despite <a href="https://www.oecd.org/officialdocuments/publicdisplaydocumentpdf/?cote=DELSA/ELSA/WD/SEM(2012)11&docLanguage=En">the widely evidenced benefits</a> of <a href="https://www.oecd.org/officialdocuments/publicdisplaydocumentpdf/?cote=DELSA/ELSA/WD/SEM(2012)11&docLanguage=En">the father’s involvement</a> to the child’s development, and despite <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ssqu.12523">the proven improvement</a> to the quality of the parental relationship, shared parental leave was designed with glaring omissions. </p>
<p>The policy excluded <a href="https://fullfact.org/economy/shared-parental-leave-self-employed-people/">self-employed parents</a> and <a href="https://maternityaction.org.uk/advice/zero-hours-contracts-maternity-and-parental-rights/">workers</a> on zero-hours contracts and from agencies. However, <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-exposes-britains-bogus-self-employment-problem-138459">workers in these categories</a> contribute significantly to the UK economy. It is unfair for them to be treated differently.</p>
<p>Another key barrier to the scheme has been the <a href="https://www.cipd.co.uk/news-views/cipd-voice/issue-8/working-parents-support">financial cost</a> it generates for parents. Under the current system, it paid at the basic rate – just shy of £150 a week. Some employers enhance the pay, but this is not mandatory. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/apr/26/shared-parental-leave-scrap-deeply-flawed-policy-say-campaigners">Aviva</a>, for example, offers its UK staff the right to a full year off work, including 26 weeks on full pay, regardless of their sex. As a result, the company saw over 99% of new fathers among its workforce taking parental leave, with 84% taking at least six months in 2020.</p>
<p>A further hurdle is that many employers and employees both simply <a href="https://researchprofiles.herts.ac.uk/portal/files/14846678/SPL_Report.pdf">do not fully understand the bureaucratic process involved</a>. Most employers <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-wonder-dads-arent-taking-shared-parental-leave-most-employers-have-failed-to-embrace-it-104290">have not made their staff aware of the scheme</a>, leading to <a href="https://workingfamilies.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Working-Families-SPL-briefing-paper-January-2016.pdf">employees being none the wiser</a>. </p>
<h2>Practical hurdles for women</h2>
<p>The policy requires mothers to give consent before a father can take shared parental leave. This automatically undermines fathers’ rights as equal parents. It endorses the cultural perception of <a href="https://www.myfamilycare.co.uk/resources/news/shared-parental-leave-two-years-on/">fathers as breadwinners</a> and the mothers as caregivers. </p>
<p>Also, in 2016, the <a href="https://www.myfamilycare.co.uk/resources/white-papers/shared-parental-leave-where-are-we-now/">My Family Care report</a> suggested that few people take advantage of the scheme because mothers don’t want to share their leave. Over half of the mothers (55%) in their sample (of 1,000 parents) said they did not want to share their maternity leave with their partners and 60% of men strongly agreed that partners would prefer to take all the leave themselves. </p>
<p>However, research shows that it’s not that mothers don’t want to share. Rather, <a href="https://researchprofiles.herts.ac.uk/portal/files/14846678/SPL_Report.pdf">several reasons</a> make sharing unattractive. These include <a href="http://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/MakingItWork/">breastfeeding difficulties</a>, the <a href="https://www.cipd.co.uk/news-views/cipd-voice/issue-8/working-parents-support">financial cost</a>, <a href="https://researchprofiles.herts.ac.uk/portal/files/14846678/SPL_Report.pdf">health concerns after birth</a> for both the mother and baby, and the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/aug/04/men-women-parental-leave-impact-career">impact on fathers’ careers</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.aafp.org/afp/2003/1201/p2201.html">There has been a noted decline</a> in the number of working mothers returning to work early after birth, with many <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3387873/">choosing to delay</a> as much as they are able to. </p>
<p>Returning early <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11150-005-3460-4">negatively affects</a> women’s ability to start infant feeding and to keep it up. There is the option of <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/breastfeeding-and-bottle-feeding/breastfeeding/expressing-breast-milk/">expressing breast milk</a>, but without a national policy on breastfeeding, there is a notable <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk-has-one-of-the-lowest-breastfeeding-rates-in-the-world-heres-how-to-change-this-126238">lack of workplace support</a>. Most do not provide, for example, <a href="https://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Shared-Parental-Leave-Report.pdf">private rooms with sockets or fridges</a> to enable expressing milk during office hours. </p>
<h2>Discrimination against same-sex male couples</h2>
<p>Shared parental leave policy also isn’t clear on the position for same-sex couples. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-social-policy/article/abs/comparing-the-availability-of-paid-parental-leave-for-samesex-and-differentsex-couples-in-34-oecd-countries/B75BB517748AD2A99C8C1BF67D55EF1E">The length of paid leave</a> that same-sex male couples can have compared with both same-sex female and mixed-sex couples seems to be disproportional. </p>
<p>Policymakers might want to explain that mothers should have more time, healthwise, to recover after birth. But when considering gender equality, equal parenting and its effect on both the child and the couple’s relationship remains a crucial element and should take priority. Male same-sex couples and their children shouldn’t be discriminated against because of their gender, which goes contrary to the purpose of achieving gender equality at home and in the workplace. </p>
<h2>Reforms needed</h2>
<p>The UK should learn from places such as <a href="https://www.oecd.org/fr/els/famille/swedenssupportforparentswithchildreniscomprehensiveandeffectivebutexpensive.htm">Sweden</a>, which has <a href="https://www.thelocal.se/20190614/sweden-ranked-among-worlds-best-places-raise-a-family-unicef-report/">the highest amount of paternal leave</a>. Each parent is given 240 days paid leave, at about 80% of their salary (plus bonus days in cases of twins), 90 days of which are reserved for each parent and are non-transferable. </p>
<p>Contrary to the UK, where the scheme is only available for the first year of the child’s life, parents in Sweden have up to eight years to take that leave. Sweden also has <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk-has-one-of-the-lowest-breastfeeding-rates-in-the-world-heres-how-to-change-this-126238">one of the highest rates</a> of breastfeeding in the world. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk-has-one-of-the-lowest-breastfeeding-rates-in-the-world-heres-how-to-change-this-126238">The UK</a>, by contrast, <a href="https://internationalbreastfeedingjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13006-019-0230-0">has one of the lowest</a>. </p>
<p>Although the purpose of shared parental leave remains essential, the policy itself requires a complete overhaul. It needs to be made less complex and less bureaucratic. Each parent should be given an independent and non-transferable tranche of paid leave. And the pay should be increased, to encourage more parents to take advantage of it. </p>
<p>Shared parental leave should also be made available from the birth of the child, and applicable to all working parents. The terminology used in the policy should be made clearer too, to ensure that same-sex couples are not disadvantaged in any way.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159888/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Designed to encourage an equal distribution of childcare duties, the government’s policy was flawed to begin with
Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi, Senior Lecturer at York Business School, York St John University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/159880
2021-04-29T12:22:39Z
2021-04-29T12:22:39Z
How Biden’s paid leave proposal would benefit workers, their families and their employers too
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397661/original/file-20210428-13-c6h85h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4994%2C2882&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Making ends meet when you have a newborn is easier with paid family leave.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/geri-andre-major-holds-her-son-maverick-2-1-2-weeks-on-news-photo/1215007355">John Moore/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The Biden administration is proposing a massive expansion of federal benefits through a 10-year <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/28/politics/american-families-plan/index.html">US$1.8 trillion package</a> that includes new spending on <a href="https://theconversation.com/biden-administrations-39-billion-child-care-strategy-5-questions-answered-159119">child care</a>, the continuation of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/millions-of-american-parents-will-soon-get-a-monthly-allowance-4-questions-answered-156834">expanded child tax credit</a> and more robust <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-steps-the-governments-taking-toward-covid-19-relief-could-help-fight-hunger-152520">nutrition programs</a>. Notably, it would introduce a new federal paid family leave benefit costing an estimated $225 billion over the next decade. If it is fully phased in as proposed, workers could get up to $4,000 a month for a total of 12 weeks in paid leave to care for a newborn, another loved one or themselves.</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation U.S. asked <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Jc-a1IwAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Joya Misra</a>, a sociologist who studies how public policies influence inequality, four questions about paid leave in the U.S.</em></p>
<h2>1. How much of a change would this be?</h2>
<p>Federal law currently guarantees many employed Americans the right to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave to care for family members through the <a href="https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/legacy/files/whdfs28a.pdf">Family and Medical Leave Act</a>. Because of eligibility restrictions, <a href="https://www.diversitydatakids.org/research-library/data-visualization/unequal-access-fmla-leave-persists">less than half of all U.S. workers</a> can technically access this benefit. Even fewer of those who are eligible <a href="https://www.clasp.org/publications/fact-sheet/paid-family-and-medical-leave-critical-low-wage-workers-and-their-families">can afford</a> to take advantage of it.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/40204457">U.S. is truly exceptional</a> in this regard.</p>
<p>Employed women get <a href="https://worldpolicycenter.org/policies/is-paid-leave-available-for-mothers-of-infants">paid maternity leave</a> in <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-us-is-stingier-with-child-care-and-maternity-leave-than-the-rest-of-the-world-94770">almost every nation</a> in the world. Many countries also provide workers with paid leave to care for their ailing <a href="https://worldpolicycenter.org/policies/is-paid-leave-available-specifically-for-adult-family-members-health-needs/is-paid-leave-available-specifically-for-elderly-parents-health-needs">parents, partners</a> or other relatives who need care, which is what the Biden administration is proposing. </p>
<p>Nine states, including <a href="https://www.edd.ca.gov/disability/paid_family_leave.htm">California</a> and <a href="https://ctpaidleave.org/s/?language=en_US">Connecticut</a>, and the District of Columbia already <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/paid-family-and-medical-leave-by-state-5089907">offer some form of paid family leave</a>. Their track records provide <a href="https://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/resources/economic-justice/paid-leave/first-impressions-comparing-state-paid-family-leave-programs-in-their-first-years.pdf">strong evidence</a> regarding the advantages of paid – as opposed to unpaid – family leave.</p>
<h2>2. How would Biden’s paid leave plan benefit workers?</h2>
<p>When workers need to care for a family member with an illness, or a new child, they often find themselves <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2016/09/22/143877/the-cost-of-inaction/">out of a job</a>. Researchers have found that the lack of paid leave leads to at least $20.6 billion in lost wages per year. Paid family leave especially helps <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2019.1635436">low-income U.S. workers</a> stay employed when they need it most. In states that fund paid leave, women are <a href="https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/amuwpaper/2019-07.htm">20% less likely</a> to quit their jobs after having a baby. </p>
<p>Only <a href="https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/factsheet/family-leave-benefits-fact-sheet.htm">16% of Americans with private sector jobs</a> currently get paid leave through their employer; most of them work for big companies like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-parental-leave-policies-from-large-us-companies-2019-6#este-lauder-employees-have-20-weeks-to-take-off-10">Facebook and American Express</a>. </p>
<p>Some public-sector workers, but not all, can access paid leave, including those benefiting from a <a href="https://www.commerce.gov/hr/paid-parental-leave-federal-employees">federal paid parental leave policy</a> adopted in October 2020.</p>
<p>Many employees who can technically take unpaid leave can’t do that without <a href="https://theconversation.com/taking-advantage-of-unpaid-leave-can-increase-the-chances-that-workers-will-face-economic-hardship-129163">experiencing financial hardship</a>. In states with paid leave, evidence suggests that those policies make it easier for workers to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2019.1704398">financially weather a birth, an adoption or a short-term health crisis</a>.</p>
<h2>3. How would employers benefit?</h2>
<p>Researchers have found that paid leave is good for business.</p>
<p>It increases <a href="https://www.russellsage.org/research/reports/future-of-work/leaves-that-pay">worker retention, productivity and loyalty</a>, while also allowing smaller businesses to compete more fairly with big companies. Public opinion polls and surveys have long found that <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/03/23/americans-widely-support-paid-family-and-medical-leave-but-differ-over-specific-policies/">most Americans</a>, including small-business owners, <a href="https://smallbusinessmajority.org/our-research/workforce/small-businesses-support-paid-family-leave-programs">support paid family leave</a>. </p>
<p>For example, nearly all businesses surveyed about the effects of the <a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6bm118ss">California paid leave program</a>, adopted in 2004, said that the program had either a positive effect or no noticeable impact on productivity, profits, retention and morale. <a href="https://siepr.stanford.edu/research/publications/paid-family-leave-policies">Employee turnover</a> fell in California once it enacted its paid leave policy.</p>
<p>Other states have seen similar results.</p>
<p>One year after <a href="https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/77474">Rhode Island adopted paid leave</a> in 2018, most employers there supported the policy. <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w28672">New York employers are also enthusiastic</a>, partly because paid leave makes it easier to deal with employee absences. In <a href="https://bloustein.rutgers.edu/njbia-the-impact-of-paid-family-leave-on-nj-businesses/">New Jersey, most employers</a> said they experienced no change in their profits, performance or productivity after the adoption of that state’s paid leave policy, which they say was easy to implement.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2018/beyond-bls/labor-force-participation-and-employment-rates-declining-for-prime-age-men-and-women.htm">U.S. workforce participation has been decreasing</a> for years, especially for women. Comparing the United States to Canada, some researchers estimate that with more access to paid leave and affordable child care, as many as <a href="https://www.frbsf.org/economic-research/publications/economic-letter/2018/november/why-are-us-workers-not-participating/">5 million more workers</a> could enter the U.S. labor force – boosting the economy. </p>
<h2>4. Is the Biden administration’s estimate of the cost realistic?</h2>
<p>The Biden administration estimates that its proposed paid leave program will cost <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/28/paid-leave-of-up-to-4000-a-month-for-12-weeks-part-of-biden-proposal.html">$225 billion over the next decade</a>. I think that this is a reasonable expectation, as state-based paid leave programs have not been very expensive. </p>
<p>In most states, paid family leave has been funded through <a href="https://search.proquest.com/openview/eb487862db7450354f05099d82568487/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=34391">employee payroll taxes</a>, though some states jointly fund the program between employees and employers. Funding through a payroll tax spreads the cost across millions of workers and employers. </p>
<p>However, at this point, Biden seeks to fund this program and others through <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/bidens-first-speech-to-congress-full-text-11619659158">taxes on people who earn more than $400,000 per year</a> and corporations. </p>
<p>The nonprofit <a href="https://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/economic-justice/paid-leave.html">National Partnership for Women and Families</a> estimates that someone earning the median U.S. income, currently around <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N">$36,000 per year</a>, would pay about $1.48 per week, or $76.85 annually, to fund this program. In Massachusetts, where I live, workers pay no more than <a href="https://www.mass.gov/info-details/paid-family-and-medical-leave-pfml-fact-sheet#how-does-pfml-work-and-how-much-does-it-cost?-">38 cents</a> per every $100 that they earn to fund paid the state’s paid leave program. Self-employed workers can opt into this system. </p>
<h2>5. How much family leave is parental versus for other kinds of care?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.edd.ca.gov/Disability/Paid_Family_leave.htm">In California</a>, about half of all paid family leave claims are for new mothers, about one-third are for new fathers and the rest involve care for other family members – a seriously ill older child, a parent or in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse or registered domestic partner. </p>
<p>Providing paid leave for new parents could have a big impact, as currently most U.S. women lack <a href="https://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/economic-justice/paid-leave.html">paid maternity leave</a> and even fewer men can take time off to welcome a new baby. That’s unfortunate, in my view, because <a href="https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/204-the-child-development-case-for-a-national-paid-family-and-medical-leave-program">paid leave</a> is associated with better health outcomes for both mothers and children, less stressed families, greater connection to employers and greater economic security for working families. </p>
<p>I believe that federal paid leave to care for relatives is crucial, given the <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-life-expectancies-rise-so-are-expectations-for-healthy-aging-102388">aging population</a> in the U.S. and the growing number of workers who need time off to care for aging family members. With <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-than-1-in-5-americans-are-taking-care-of-their-elderly-ill-and-disabled-relatives-and-friends-138246">1 in 5 adults</a> caring for another adult, many of whom are shouldering financial burdens as a result, a federal paid family leave policy would make a big difference. </p>
<p>[<em>Understand key political developments, each week.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/politics-weekly-74/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=politics-understand">Subscribe to The Conversation’s election newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159880/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joya Misra receives funding from the National Science Foundation and Washington Center for Equitable Growth. </span></em></p>
If the plan is fully phased in as proposed, workers could get up to $4,000 a month for a total of 12 weeks in paid leave to care for a newborn, another loved one or themselves within 10 years.
Joya Misra, Professor of Sociology & Public Policy, UMass Amherst
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/154155
2021-02-19T13:20:50Z
2021-02-19T13:20:50Z
3 ways companies could offer more father-friendly policies that will help women
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385064/original/file-20210218-16-kezfpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=190%2C111%2C5116%2C3301&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Giving new dads 'fathers-only' leave is one way to support women's equality.
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/new-born-nestled-against-his-dad-royalty-free-image/550343969">Catherine Delahaye/Stone via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you want to help women achieve gender equality in the workplace, it’s time to give more support to men. </p>
<p>That may sound counterintuitive since men have long been advantaged at work with <a href="https://www.nber.org/digest/feb07/new-evidence-gender-differences-promotions-and-pay">higher salaries</a>, <a href="https://hbr.org/2010/09/why-men-still-get-more-promotions-than-women">faster promotions</a> and more authority.</p>
<p>We are two professors who study gender equality and injustices in the workplace. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/cbs0000222">One of us reviewed 186 published papers</a> on gender equality in the last decade. Our conclusion: One of the biggest problems in contemporary policies aimed at gender equality in the workplace is that they leave out men. </p>
<p>For many women with young children, taking on more responsibilities at work means their responsibilities at home need to decrease. And for that to happen, men need to step up – and be encouraged to do so. Here are three ways companies could do just that. </p>
<h2>1. Men need family-friendly policies, too</h2>
<p>Family-friendly policies such as flextime, telecommuting and a compressed workweek have been seen as supporting women’s traditional roles and hence <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12017">as more needed for women</a> to take advantage of. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/07/how-women-and-men-use-flexible-work-policies-differently/277954/">most companies offer flextime policies</a> to both men and women, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12018">some studies show men’s usage has been stigmatized</a> and discouraged – and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227959383_Parental_Leave_of_Absence_Some_Not_So_Family-Friendly_Implications1">may even hurt their careers</a>. </p>
<p>It may depend on why men take advantage of such policies. “High-status men” who sought flexible hours to advance their careers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12019">were most likely to get it</a> – as opposed to those who sought to take on more child-caring duties. Men who sought flextime for this reason also anticipated more backlash for such requests.</p>
<p>Companies could overcome these stereotypes and fears by encouraging men to take advantage of these types of family-friendly policies and by proclaiming that there’s no penalty if the reason is to take on more domestic responsibilities.</p>
<h2>2. ‘Fathers-only’ leave</h2>
<p>Parental leave is another common policy targeting mostly women. Most countries with nationally mandated parental leaves <a href="https://cepr.net/report/plp/">provide significantly more time to mothers</a> than fathers.</p>
<p>Even when parental leave is accessible to fathers, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2017.1307806">men are far less likely to use it</a> because of financial costs, gender expectations, a lack of organizational support and the <a href="https://hbr.org/2019/03/to-make-the-case-for-paternity-leave-dads-will-have-to-work-together">fear it may hurt their careers</a>.</p>
<p>Yet <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243213503900">research shows</a> that men who take parental leave become equal partners in raising their children, beyond the time they take off before or after a baby is born. </p>
<p>Organizations that don’t offer paternal leave should, of course, do so. But even those that already provide it should do more to encourage men to take advantage of it. One way is by offering “fathers-only” paid leave in addition to whatever is given to mothers. </p>
<p>In many countries where parental leave is mandated, such as Canada and across Europe, leave can be shared between men and women any way parents like. Data show that <a href="http://www.oecd.org/policy-briefs/bytopic/socialandwelfareissues/">mothers typically take the majority of that leave</a>, while fathers take very little.</p>
<p>Canada is a good example. Across the country, <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-008-x/2012002/article/11697-eng.htm">only 15% of new dads take any leave</a> out of the available 35 weeks of shared parental leave. But in Quebec, which has been offering fathers-only leave since 2006, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-one-province-got-80-per-cent-of-fathers-to-take-paternity-leave-118737">over 80% of new dads took</a> the five weeks reserved for fathers only. Given its success, in 2019 the rest of Canada <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2019/03/14/new-parental-leave-dads-canada_a_23692448/">added a similar policy</a> of reserving leave for fathers. </p>
<p>By setting aside a certain share for fathers only – without reducing the number of weeks available to new mothers – companies can signal that they want men to take parental leave too. </p>
<h2>3. Cutting down on long hours</h2>
<p>Another common practice that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839219832310">undermines gender equality</a> is long work hours. </p>
<p>Research shows that in nations that foster a culture that rewards overtime work, men do less housework and women do more. This undermines both men’s effort to engage in their roles outside of the office and women’s effort to engage in their careers.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>Not only that, studies have also found that <a href="https://hbr.org/2015/08/the-research-is-clear-long-hours-backfire-for-people-and-for-companies">long hours do not lead to more productivity</a> and, if anything, can be counterproductive and unsustainable. </p>
<p>The research clearly shows offering these policies isn’t enough. Employers need to encourage men to use them, without fear of repercussions, for the policies to be successful.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154155/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ivona Hideg's research is supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Manuela Priesemuth does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Women and their careers benefit when men are allowed – and encouraged – by their employers to do more caregiving.
Ivona Hideg, Associate Professor and Ann Brown Chair in Organization Studies, York University, Canada
Manuela Priesemuth, Associate Professor of Management, Villanova University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/147588
2020-10-12T14:35:18Z
2020-10-12T14:35:18Z
Women in work: how East Germany’s socialist past has influenced West German mothers
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362671/original/file-20201009-13-rtaaap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1282%2C720%2C3340%2C2356&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dakota Corbin/Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Germany was reunited 30 years ago, the general feeling was of hope. People felt a wind of change breeze through both parts of the country. With reunification, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) became part of the Federal German Republic (FRG) and adopted West Germany’s political, economic and legal institutions. </p>
<p>Much of the <a href="https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/service/bulletin/rede-des-bundeskanzlers-auf-der-kundgebung-vor-der-frauenkirche-in-dresden-790762">early public debate</a> focused on how to transform the former socialist GDR into a democratic state and how to transform its planned economy into a free market economy. Little did people think about how more than 40 years of division had impacted the core of society – its culture and social norms – and how reunification could impact that culture and its resulting economic behaviour.</p>
<p>Cultural differences between east and west still persist. For example the voting behaviour of East and West Germans <a href="https://www.diw.de/de/diw_01.c.672926.de/publikationen/weekly_reports/2019_34_1/at_opposite_poles__how_the_success_of_the_green_party_and_afd_reflects_the_geographical_and_social_cleavages_in_germany.html">differs</a>. Certain cultural impacts of reunification are discussed, but mostly the impact of West Germany on the east – for example the increase in women’s marital age and the age at first birth (East German women married and had children very young, but now the average age is similar). </p>
<p>Cultural shifts in the other direction are less noted. Partly to help rectify this, we’ve been <a href="https://cream-migration.org/publ_uploads/CDP_20_20.pdf">researching</a> how the habits of working women in the west and the east have changed over the last 30 years.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Crowds stand atop the Berlin Wall." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362403/original/file-20201008-14-ool3xp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362403/original/file-20201008-14-ool3xp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362403/original/file-20201008-14-ool3xp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362403/original/file-20201008-14-ool3xp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362403/original/file-20201008-14-ool3xp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362403/original/file-20201008-14-ool3xp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362403/original/file-20201008-14-ool3xp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Crowds of West and East Germans in front of the Brandenburg Gate, 1989.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:West_and_East_Germans_at_the_Brandenburg_Gate_in_1989.jpg">Lear 21/English Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As a state socialist country, East Germany strongly encouraged mothers to participate in the labour market full-time, whereas West Germany propagated a more traditional male-breadwinner model. In 1989, around 89% of women in the GDR worked. This – for the time – was one of the highest rates in the world. In West Germany, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.30.012703.110531">56%</a> of women worked.</p>
<p>The GDR granted women the constitutional right to work and to receive equal pay in 1949. Ideologically, housewives were devalued: non-working mothers were described as <em>schmarotzer</em> (parasites). At the same time, the GDR was one of the first countries in the world to introduce a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0730888496023004003">generous maternity leave policy</a> and make childcare freely available. </p>
<p>In West Germany, on the other hand, the tax and benefit system discouraged dual-earner families. School schedules were short, typically ending around lunchtime, and childcare centres were scarce. More traditional gender-role attitudes were apparent in jargon used in West Germany such as <em>rabenmutter</em> , a derogatory term used for working mothers that literally meant “raven mothers”, and <em>fremdbetreuung</em> (care by strangers) for day-care centres.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman in an apron stands next to a suited man. The woman gives some cake to a child, standing in front of them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362660/original/file-20201009-15-1g89sw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362660/original/file-20201009-15-1g89sw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=856&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362660/original/file-20201009-15-1g89sw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=856&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362660/original/file-20201009-15-1g89sw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=856&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362660/original/file-20201009-15-1g89sw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1076&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362660/original/file-20201009-15-1g89sw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1076&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362660/original/file-20201009-15-1g89sw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1076&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An advertisement for household products in West Germany, 1950. The text translates as `Baking is fun using BACKIN.´</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Oetker-Firmenarchiv S2/86</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After reunification, the two cultures were suddenly thrown together, with increased social interactions between East and West Germans through migration and commuting. Several decades after reunification, women from East Germany still behave according to the more egalitarian gender norms they grew up with, even after many years of exposure to West German culture. </p>
<p>The same is not true for West German women. As we show in a recently published <a href="https://cream-migration.org/publ_uploads/CDP_20_20.pdf">working paper</a>, through migration, East German culture has travelled west and affected the working culture of West German mothers.</p>
<h2>German division</h2>
<p>Decades after reunification, we still see large differences in the return-to-work decisions of East and West German mothers. Social security records show that many East German women return to work a year after their child is born — in line with the behaviour of mothers in the former GDR, where mothers were offered a “baby year” of paid maternity leave. </p>
<p>West Germans, on the other hand, return much later, often only after three years, which is when job protection ends. In addition, West German mothers tend to work fewer hours. </p>
<p>Such differences translate into large earnings differences: seven years after the birth of their first child, West German mothers have only recovered 45% of their pre-birth earnings, while East Germans get 70% of their pre-birth wages — <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pandp.20191078">comparable</a> to mothers in the US and Sweden.</p>
<p>Interestingly, East German culture has persisted more than the West German one. East German migrants in West Germany stick to the beliefs and values of their childhood environment and continue to behave according to their East German upbringing, even after several years in a West German environment. The research implies that for women raised in a more gender-egalitarian culture, the beliefs and values of their childhood play a more important role (68%) in shaping employment decisions as new mothers than their current cultural environment (32%).</p>
<p>In contrast, West German mothers in East Germany take on the norms of their current cultural environment and adjust their post-birth employment nearly entirely to that of their East German colleagues. Remarkably, this is still true even when these women return to West Germany and give birth back in the gender traditional environment they grew up in.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A black and white picture of a couple and three children." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362399/original/file-20201008-24-6lcqsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362399/original/file-20201008-24-6lcqsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362399/original/file-20201008-24-6lcqsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362399/original/file-20201008-24-6lcqsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362399/original/file-20201008-24-6lcqsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362399/original/file-20201008-24-6lcqsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362399/original/file-20201008-24-6lcqsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A student couple and their three children, Leipzig, East Germany, 1984.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1984-0807-017,_Leipzig,_Familienszene.jpg">German Federal Archives</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Cultural change</h2>
<p>Across many countries it has become more normal for mothers to work. In our paper we document that close contact between women from traditional and more gender egalitarian cultures has the potential to accelerate such cultural change.</p>
<p>Our research shows that migration from East into West German workplaces has brought cultural change to West German doorsteps and affected West German mothers who have never left their own area. We found that West German mothers who worked in West German firms with a large inflow of East Germans after reunification returned to work earlier than West German mothers who worked in firms without East Germans. In addition, large inflows of East German workers post 1990 appear to have made West German workplaces more family-friendly.</p>
<p>Taken together, East German culture regarding the role of women has had a lasting legacy, despite the fact that East Germany adopted West German institutions. East German women who were born into the more gender-egalitarian culture still behave accordingly decades after the fall of the wall. </p>
<p>Post-1990, East German culture even travelled west and changed the norms and workplace practices of those West Germans who interacted closely with East Germans. Since Angela Merkel took office in 2005, Germany has introduced generous one-year <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004727271830135X">maternity leave</a>, including two months earmarked for the father. </p>
<p>There has also been heavy investment into an expansion of universal child care for those with children under three. It is yet to be seen how these recent advances in family policy, which are remarkably similar to those of the former GDR, will increase convergence in norms and labour supply behaviour of East and West German women born after the fall of the wall.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147588/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Raute gratefully acknowledges funding from the Fritz Thyssen Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Barbara Boelmann gratefully acknowledges funding from Evangelisches Studienwerk. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Uta Schoenberg gratefully acknowledges funding from the European Research Council (ERC Consolidator Grant FirmIneq). </span></em></p>
East Germany strongly encouraged mothers to participate in the labour market full-time, whereas West Germany propagated a more tradition male breadwinner model.
Anna Raute, Assistant Professor in Economics, Queen Mary University of London
Barbara Boelmann, PhD Candidate, UCL
Uta Schoenberg, Professor of Economics, UCL
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/145194
2020-08-28T15:53:28Z
2020-08-28T15:53:28Z
It’s time to scrap the student loans ‘motherhood penalty’
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355307/original/file-20200828-23-vyfese.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=153%2C64%2C4791%2C2978&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/unrecognizable-mother-son-sling-writing-on-578410708">Shutterstock/Halfpoint</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The student loans system was supposed to be a safe and fair way for everyone who seeks further education to get the funds they need. But the system is broken and women – particularly mothers – are <a href="https://www.unison.org.uk/motions/2019/women-members/young-women-and-student-loan-repayments/">bearing the brunt</a>. </p>
<p>It may come as a shock to some, but women on maternity leave in the UK who are paying off their student loans still accrue interest when they are on leave. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan/what-you-pay">Loan repayments stop</a> if their income drops below £26,575 – but the interest doesn’t. It means that women graduates are effectively being <a href="https://pregnantthenscrewed.com/">financially penalised</a> for having children. </p>
<p>But the motherhood penalty is just the start of the story. Women are already subjected to workplace and <a href="https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/">societal inequality</a> and suffer most notably from the <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/genderpaygapintheuk/2019">gender pay gap</a>. Full-time employed women earn on average 8% less than men for the same work. This means that women are being paid <a href="https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/politics/still-work-do-gender-pay-gap-portsmouth-businesses-strive-equality-2878183">thousands of pounds less</a> a year. That figure is even more alarming considering that women owe around <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/21/women-two-thirds-student-loan-debt-slow-burning-crisis">two-thirds</a> of student loan debt in the UK.</p>
<h2>A gendered system</h2>
<p>Graduate women on maternity in the UK take longer to pay off their student loans in full. The UK government has estimated that for students starting university from 2006, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/jan/02/uk.studentfinance">average student loan debt</a> on graduation would take an average of 11 years to repay for men and 16 years for women. </p>
<p>For those who started studying from 2012, most graduates are expected never to pay off their loans, male or female. But <a href="https://londoneconomics.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/LE-Impact-of-student-loan-repayments-on-graduate-taxation-FINAL.pdf">research has found</a> that the difference in the treatment of men and women by the 2012 reforms is “substantial”. </p>
<p>The typical earnings profile of a woman – even when compared to a man in a similar job – means they tend to pay more and for a longer period of time, in particular through their middle working years. In other words, women are already paying more and the extra interest only adds to that.</p>
<p>Women also end up carrying longer term <a href="https://pregnantthenscrewed.com/">financial</a> and career burdens because men are less likely to take paternity leave. The issue is then further intensified by the <a href="https://www.ifs.org.uk/comms/r64.pdf">expenses</a> associated with childcare, which often force women into part-time work. </p>
<p>A recent <a href="https://twitter.com/Hello_Sabina/status/1297229603166130179">Twitter thread</a>, which has received much attention, has made it very clear that there are different costs for men and women who study for the same degree. The difference between the couple in question is that woman took two periods of maternity leave and accrued interest at a rate which effectively cancelled out the payments she had been making – meaning it will take her significantly longer than her husband to pay off the debt.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1297229603166130179"}"></div></p>
<p>The system is opaque and confusing. Many women – just like those responding on Twitter – have no idea they will accrue interest on existing loans during maternity leave. Many more will have been paying it and wondering <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/jul/29/graduates-anger-nightmare-student-loans-company-complaints">why it is taking them so long</a> to pay off the debt. </p>
<p>COVID-19 has disproportionately affected working mothers, <a href="https://bdaily.co.uk/articles/2020/07/07/why-cant-the-chancellor-do-the-right-thing-by-women-entrepreneurs-ask-leading-womens-groups">especially entrepreneurs </a> and the self-employed. And <a href="https://www.ifs.org.uk/comms/r64.pdf">research shows</a> that women have experienced high levels of reductions in hours, furlough and redundancies because of childcare issues. </p>
<p>Pre-pandemic, women university graduates took on a larger <a href="https://www.unison.org.uk/motions/2019/women-members/young-women-and-student-loan-repayments/">burden of student debt</a> when they became mothers. This was on top of gender pay gap issues that often begin at <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-early-career-women-help-to-open-up-the-gender-pay-gap-81591">the early career stage</a> for women. </p>
<p>Working from home can also <a href="https://wonkhe.com/blogs/co-working-co-parenting-covid-19-will-working-from-home-exacerbate-gender-inequalities/">worsen gender inequalities</a> because women still undertake most of the childcare work and experienced greater strains during this time, as schools and nurseries were forced to close and childminders were unable to work. To make matters worse, there may well have been further interest accruals on student loans for women who were forced into part-time work and earned less than the payment threshold.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1287484926338768902"}"></div></p>
<p><a href="https://pregnantthenscrewed.com/childcare-covid-and-career/">Research</a> carried out during the pandemic has also found that half of the 15% of mothers who were made redundant (or expected to be made redundant imminently) believed that a lack of childcare provision played a role. </p>
<p>These issues are not limited to the UK. Research <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10834-018-9591-6">from the US</a> in 2019 found that student debt repayment is delaying women <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180926110917.htm">getting married</a> – but not men. </p>
<p>Women carry two-thirds of the total <a href="https://www.aauw.org/resources/research/deeper-in-debt/">US$1.54 trillion</a> (£1.16 trillion) student debt in the US – a massive burden. This affects <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/06/why-women-hold-the-majority-of-student-loans.html">ethnic minority women</a> graduates particularly. What’s more, high levels of student debt are a major barrier for people – particularly women – <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/29/these-are-the-ways-student-loans-stop-people-from-buying-a-house.html">buying homes</a>. </p>
<p>In Scotland, there is a forthcoming <a href="https://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx?SearchType=Advance&ReferenceNumbers=S5W-31396&ResultsPerPage=10">government consultation</a> on the issue, relating to student loans taken out for living costs. It will be interesting to see whether progressive steps will be taken to bring a degree of gender equality to student loans repayments. Unfortunately, there is currently no such action in England. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-early-career-women-help-to-open-up-the-gender-pay-gap-81591">How early career women help to open up the gender pay gap</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We are calling for a freeze on student loan interest accruals during maternity leave in the UK. This would be a small step to reducing systemic gender discrimination and the “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/feb/07/the-pinch-david-willetts">pinch</a>”, which refers to so-called Boomers (the post-war generation born between 1946 and 1964) pinching the future of their children. </p>
<p>As the country attempts to “<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/lets-build-back-better">build back better</a>” post-lockdown and post-Brexit, this step would help to unshackle women graduates who choose to have children from extra and unfair burdens of debt at a time when people are increasingly <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/topics/education/articles-reports/2020/01/09/why-are-britons-choosing-not-have-children">choosing not to</a> have children at all. </p>
<p>With the student <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/aug/17/uk-exams-debacle-how-did-results-end-up-chaos">exam results fiasco</a> during the summer and bleak employment prospects for young people and graduates, some people already feel like their <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/aug/02/coronavirus-has-stolen-our-future-young-peoples-despair-as-jobs-evaporate">future has been stolen</a> from them. Removing the motherhood penalty on student loan interest repayments would at least signal some hope.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145194/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The student loans system is just another source of financial gender inequality.
Emily Yarrow, Lecturer in International Human Resource Management, University of Portsmouth
Julie Davies, Reader in Leadership & Development, Manchester Metropolitan University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/137360
2020-05-06T18:56:02Z
2020-05-06T18:56:02Z
Parental leave laws don’t do enough for single moms – but there’s a way to fix that
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332867/original/file-20200505-83730-1nzqnlk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C30%2C6720%2C3500&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Parenthood in 2020 is perhaps tougher than usual.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/mother-tending-to-crying-baby-on-bed-royalty-free-image/1168057908">Cavan Images/ Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>New moms may have trouble enjoying Mother’s Day 2020.</p>
<p>As this crisis has unfolded, pregnant women <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/terrified-pregnant-health-care-workers-at-risk-for-coronavirus-are-being-forced-to-keep-working">have been forced to work</a> without proper protective gear, <a href="https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/vamc-martinsburg-telework/65-6a876f7d-0f33-4e24-8508-233966ed51db">with some choosing to quit</a> rather than risk exposure to the coronavirus and contracting COVID-19. Many others will be among the 30 million American workers who have <a href="https://www.marketplace.org/2020/04/30/covid-19-us-unemployment-state-benefits/">become unemployed without having any say about it</a>. And some of those who are still working will reasonably fear any missed days could mean they’ll soon be laid off. </p>
<p>The good news is that a growing number of states, including New York, New Jersey and California, have <a href="https://www.abetterbalance.org/resources/paid-family-leave-laws-chart/">passed family leave</a> laws that can help. Parents in these states who have been regularly working can get benefits for a short time while caring for newborns or recently adopted children.</p>
<p>The laws address a major gap in American workplace policy. The United States is the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/paid-family-and-medical-leave-an-issue-whose-time-has-come/">only developed country</a> that fails to guarantee paid parental leave to all workers.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lp6kuV0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Having studied</a> <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3505553">parental leave laws around the world</a>, I believe the new U.S. laws are a crucial step forward. But I think they treat single parents, <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/stories/2018/single-parent.html">most of whom are women</a>, unfairly. </p>
<h2>Promoting gender equality</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_242615.pdf">Nearly all developed countries</a> guarantee mothers at least three months paid maternity leave, while fathers often receive a much shorter paternity leave. Some countries supplement this sex-specific structure by offering families an additional period of shared parental leave, which is also <a href="https://www.oecd.org/policy-briefs/parental-leave-where-are-the-fathers.pdf">typically used by mothers</a>. </p>
<p><iframe id="MeC6a" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/MeC6a/8/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>The U.S. model is very different.</p>
<p>The state leave laws, and a <a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/benefits/2020/01/not-all-federal-employees-are-covered-under-the-new-paid-parental-leave-law-at-least-not-yet/">similar policy that will soon cover</a> most <a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/budget/2019/12/trump-signs-shutdown-averting-spending-bills-makes-federal-pay-raise-law/">federal workers</a>, provide each parent an equal and individual right to take paid time off without having to worry about losing their jobs.</p>
<p>For example, in <a href="https://paidfamilyleave.ny.gov/bonding-leave-birth-child#bonding-with-your-new-baby">New York state</a>, moms are currently eligible for up to 10 weeks of partial wage replacement, and so are dads. Both members of a same-sex couple can qualify, so long as each is legally recognized as a parent. </p>
<p>This structure is designed to encourage fathers to take time off. <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3505553">Early evidence</a> suggests it works. In <a href="https://www.edd.ca.gov/disability/paid_family_leave.htm">California</a> and <a href="http://www.dlt.ri.gov/lmi/pdf/tdi/2018.pdf">Rhode Island</a>, men account for almost 40% of parental leave claims. This rate is far above the average for industrialized countries of <a href="https://www.oecd.org/els/family/PF2-2-Use-childbirth-leave.pdf">18%</a>, and very close to that of international leaders. </p>
<p>Studies of <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/fathers-leave-fathers-involvement-and-child-development_5k4dlw9w6czq-en">men who take parental leave</a> suggest that those dads will be more <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12494">engaged parents</a> months, or even years, later. Having more men take leave can also <a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc955354/">promote equality at work</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2011.06.011">at home</a>. </p>
<p>I agree it’s essential to encourage men to do their fair share of child care. <a href="https://voxeu.org/article/impact-coronavirus-pandemic-gender-equality">The crisis highlights longstanding gender inequities</a>, with <a href="https://www.today.com/parents/mental-load-coronavirus-pandemic-means-moms-take-more-t179021">moms being far more likely</a> than dads to put work aside to meet the needs of their children who are suddenly at home full-time. </p>
<h2>Half as much</h2>
<p>The U.S. structure, however, disadvantages single-parent families, as they can claim only half as much time off as two-parent families. This is a significant problem because about <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_13-508.pdf">40% of U.S. births are to unmarried parents</a>.</p>
<p><iframe id="2TOKV" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/2TOKV/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>There are large disparities on the basis of <a href="https://www.childtrends.org/publications/dramatic-increase-in-percentage-of-births-outside-marriage-among-whites-hispanics-and-women-with-higher-education-levels">race and ethnicity</a>, <a href="https://www.childtrends.org/publications/dramatic-increase-in-percentage-of-births-outside-marriage-among-whites-hispanics-and-women-with-higher-education-levels">education</a> and <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2013/acs/acs-21.html">income</a>. In short, unmarried parents are particularly likely to be vulnerable workers, at <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/who-are-the-workers-already-impacted-by-the-covid-19-recession/">heightened risk</a> of losing their jobs during the pandemic. </p>
<p>Where unmarried parents are <a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2018/04/25/the-changing-profile-of-unmarried-parents/">living together</a>, or otherwise both involved in child care, it makes sense that each should be able to take parental leave. But many single parents, disproportionately women, <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/stories/2018/single-parent.html">raise children on their own</a>, even from birth. </p>
<h2>An alternative model</h2>
<p>Other countries that set aside parental leave time for each parent address this issue by having special rules that apply to parents with sole custody. For example, <a href="https://www.leavenetwork.org/fileadmin/user_upload/k_leavenetwork/country_notes/2017/Iceland.FINAL.2may2017.pdf">in Iceland, mothers and fathers</a> each get three months of leave, and either parent can use an additional three months. Single parents, however, can use the full nine months that a couple would be able to take.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3587979">I will propose in a forthcoming paper</a>, U.S. laws could be made more fair by allowing single parents to receive as many weeks of benefits as two-parent families. Or the laws could be changed to allow a single parent to share benefits with a different family member, such as a grandmother, who could help with care. Because the cost of providing benefits is spread through the <a href="https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/key_workplace/2107/">tax system</a>, this approach would provide much-needed support for single parents without placing an extra burden on individual employers.</p>
<p>Without a change like this, the nation’s approach to parental leave will continue to provide less help to the families who are likely to need it the most.</p>
<p><em>An earlier version of this article was published on <a href="https://theconversation.com/parental-leave-laws-are-failing-single-parents-129668">Jan. 14, 2020</a>.</em></p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137360/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deborah Widiss received funding from the Australian-American Fulbright Commission for research on parental leave policies. She serves as an unpaid consultant for the Indiana Institute for Working Families; she has advised the organization on legal issues related to the gender wage gap and job protections for pregnant workers.</span></em></p>
Single mothers need more of a break than they get under current laws.
Deborah Widiss, Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs; Professor of Law and Ira C. Batman Faculty Fellow, Indiana University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/130501
2020-02-07T13:50:19Z
2020-02-07T13:50:19Z
Employment gaps cause career trouble, especially for former stay-at-home parents
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313582/original/file-20200204-41490-ip2ut6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It is harder for stay-at-home moms to return to work than for stay-at-home dads.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/african-mother-her-smiling-daughter-using-536552224">Liderina/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Understanding how employment gaps can affect careers is especially relevant given the recent policy discussions around <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/12/11/21004707/paid-parental-leave-federal-workers-space-force">paid family leave</a> and <a href="https://www.ffyf.org/cnn-debate-2020-candidates-agree-on-child-care/">childcare access</a> in the U.S.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.kateweisshaar.com/research">I am a sociologist</a> whose research examines what happens to people’s careers after they take time out of work. I find that gaps in employment can negatively affect future career prospects in multiple ways, particularly for those who left work for childcare responsibilities.</p>
<h2>No support for working parents</h2>
<p>Decisions to leave work often happen because working parents in the U.S. <a href="http://doi.org/10.1257/aer.103.3.251">lack support</a>.</p>
<p>With <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/12/16/u-s-lacks-mandated-paid-parental-leave/">no mandated paid parental leave</a>, the <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/early-childhood/reports/2019/03/28/467488/child-care-crisis-keeping-women-workforce/">high costs of childcare</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0730888413515691">long work hours</a> and the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00380253.2016.1246905">spillover of work</a> into other parts of life – for example, checking emails or being “on call” – parents in the U.S. <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691178851/making-motherhood-work">may find themselves in a bind</a>.</p>
<p>If a paycheck doesn’t cover the cost of childcare, or if the demands of both work and family seem irreconcilable, something has to give. </p>
<p>It is in these contexts that some parents – <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/famee.nr0.htm">more often mothers than fathers</a> – decide to leave work to care for their children, even if temporarily.</p>
<p>My research shows that having an employment lapse can have lasting consequences on careers. I explore this finding, first, in terms of hiring and employers’ perceptions of job applicants and, second, in an article with <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VpSwBpoAAAAJ&hl=en">Tania Cabello-Hutt</a> examining the impact on wages.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313538/original/file-20200204-41485-1dw4mth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313538/original/file-20200204-41485-1dw4mth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313538/original/file-20200204-41485-1dw4mth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313538/original/file-20200204-41485-1dw4mth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313538/original/file-20200204-41485-1dw4mth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313538/original/file-20200204-41485-1dw4mth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313538/original/file-20200204-41485-1dw4mth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Politicians introduced paid family leave legislation during a news conference in March 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/parental-leave?agreements=pa:77130&phrase=parental%20leave&sort=best#license">Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Parents with employment gaps perceived as unemployable</h2>
<p>In the <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/wss5qdJRASWnqYiQiBpp/full">first study</a>, I examined how employers perceive an employment gap and if these perceptions are different if the lapse resulted from childcare responsibilities rather than unemployment from a job loss.</p>
<p>I created fictitious resumes for three kinds of job-seekers: continuously employed, unemployed and stay-at-home parents. I used names to signal gender, and the application materials indicate that each of the applicants was a parent.</p>
<p>Importantly, all other skills and features of the resumes were similar across applicants, and both unemployed and stay-at-home parents were out of work for 18 months. I then sent 3,374 of these fictitious resumes to real job openings across 50 cities in the U.S. and recorded when applicants received a “callback” from employers, an interview request or other positive response.</p>
<p>I found that 15.2% of employed applicants, 9.3% of unemployed applicants and just 5.1% of stay-at-home parents received a callback.</p>
<p>In other words, both unemployed and stay-at-home parent applicants faced callback penalties compared with applicants with no employment gaps, but stay-at-home parents faced a much larger penalty. I found similar effects for both mothers and fathers.</p>
<p><iframe id="Tj9sd" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Tj9sd/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>To understand why employers viewed stay-at-home parent job applicants negatively, I conducted a survey. The respondents viewed resumes that were similar to those sent to real employers.</p>
<p>Many survey respondents perceived both unemployed and stay-at-home parent applicants to be less capable than continuously employed applicants, which makes sense if there are concerns about these applicants’ skills becoming rusty while not working.</p>
<p>I also found that respondents viewed stay-at-home parents as less reliable, less deserving of a job and – the biggest penalty – less committed to work, compared with unemployed applicants.</p>
<p>These findings are consistent with employers’ tendency to view stay-at-home parents as not dedicated to work, perceiving them as violating professional expectations that employees should prioritize work over other areas of life – what sociologists call “<a href="https://hbr.org/product/updating-the-image-of-the-ideal-worker/ROT345-PDF-ENG">ideal worker norms</a>.”</p>
<h2>Wage gaps for nonsteady employment</h2>
<p>In the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-019-00845-8">second study</a>, we looked at the common employment trajectories that men and women follow from ages 22 to 50 using <a href="https://www.bls.gov/nls/nlsy79.htm">national data</a> on the work histories of about 6,000 individuals.</p>
<p>While many people are employed steadily throughout their careers, we found that a substantial group of people – about 32% – have low work attachment at the beginning, middle or end of their careers or frequent gaps and reductions in employment at multiple points in their careers.</p>
<p>We also found that gender, race, ethnicity and social class background are associated with these more intermittent trajectories.</p>
<p>Next, we looked at whether and how these long-term career trajectories influence wages later in life, at ages 45 to 50. We found that compared with those who work continuously, employment paths with the most gaps experience up to 40% lower wages later in life.</p>
<p>These paths are the ones most commonly associated with women and mothers taking time out of work for family reasons.</p>
<h2>Family leave and transitioning back to work</h2>
<p>So why is it important to know what happens to people after they experience employment gaps for family and other reasons?</p>
<p>This research shows that employment gaps can compound already existing inequality in the labor market, particularly for women and mothers compared with men and fathers.</p>
<p>The lack of accommodating work policies for parents and affordable childcare can lead to an <a href="http://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12013">all-or-nothing work environment</a>.</p>
<p>In this environment, gender inequality in caregiving is not the only issue. There are additional burdens to overcome for those who want to <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520290808/opting-back-in">return to work after a family-related employment lapse</a>.</p>
<p>Of course, paid family leave and affordable child care won’t solve all of the problems with gender, family and work inequality. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/centers/cwf/research/publications/researchreports/Expanded%20Paid%20Parental%20Leave-%20Study%20Findings%20FINAL%2010-31-19.pdf">recent study</a> found that while new parent employees were hugely appreciative of extended family leave offered at their companies, they still found the transition back to work to be challenging.</p>
<p>But in my assessment, access to paid family leave and affordable child care are two policies that could have a <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2019/06/27/paid-leave-as-fuel-for-economic-growth/">transformative effect</a> on gender inequality in the labor market and help reduce the <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691178851/making-motherhood-work">many burdens</a> faced by working parents.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130501/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Weisshaar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Stay-at-home parents have a hard time reentering the workforce after spending time away.
Kate Weisshaar, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/129668
2020-01-14T13:48:12Z
2020-01-14T13:48:12Z
Parental leave laws are failing single parents
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/309316/original/file-20200109-80111-wqe52z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Single-parent families are getting less paid leave but perhaps need more of it.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/motherhood-career-employment-concept-casually-dressed-1124616194">shurkin_son/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The two parties in Congress don’t agree on much these days. However, in the final days of December, they struck a deal that will give about 2 million <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/12/11/21004707/paid-parental-leave-federal-workers-space-force">federal workers</a> paid time off following the birth of a baby, an adoption or the arrival of a foster child in their home.</p>
<p>A growing number of <a href="https://www.abetterbalance.org/resources/paid-family-leave-laws-chart/">states</a> have passed similar laws. These new measures are aimed at addressing a major gap in American workplace policy. The United States is the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/paid-family-and-medical-leave-an-issue-whose-time-has-come/">only developed country</a> that fails to guarantee paid parental leave to workers generally.</p>
<p>As an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lp6kuV0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">expert</a> on the laws and policies that govern employment and families, I’ve <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3505553">studied</a> parental leave laws around the world. In my view, the new U.S. laws are an important step forward, but I think they treat single-parent families unfairly.</p>
<h2>Promoting gender equality</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/publications/ilo-bookstore/order-online/books/WCMS_242615/lang--en/index.htm">Most other countries</a> have separate paid maternity and paternity leave guarantees, with mothers receiving much more time than fathers. Some countries supplement this structure with a gender-neutral paid parental leave, often awarded on a family basis. In general, <a href="https://www.oecd.org/policy-briefs/parental-leave-where-are-the-fathers.pdf">women</a> use most of such shared leave. To encourage men to take more time, a few countries, including <a href="https://www.leavenetwork.org/fileadmin/user_upload/k_leavenetwork/annual_reviews/2019/Sweden_2019_0824.pdf">Sweden</a> and <a href="https://www.leavenetwork.org/fileadmin/user_upload/k_leavenetwork/annual_reviews/2019/Iceland_2019_0824.pdf">Iceland</a>, make a portion of parental leave usable only by fathers.</p>
<p>The U.S. model is very different.</p>
<p>The federal and state leave laws provide each parent an equal and individual right to time off. For example, when the policy covering <a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/benefits/2020/01/not-all-federal-employees-are-covered-under-the-new-paid-parental-leave-law-at-least-not-yet/">most</a> <a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/budget/2019/12/trump-signs-shutdown-averting-spending-bills-makes-federal-pay-raise-law/">federal workers</a> is implemented, moms will get 12 weeks of paid leave, and so will dads. Both members of a same-sex couple will be able to take time off, so long as each is recognized as a parent. </p>
<p><a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3505553">Early evidence</a> from states that have implemented paid leave laws suggests that fathers are taking advantage of the opportunity. In <a href="https://www.edd.ca.gov/pdf_pub_ctr/de2530.pdf">California</a> and <a href="http://www.dlt.ri.gov/lmi/pdf/tdi/2018.pdf">Rhode Island</a>, men account for almost 40% of parental leave claims. This rate is far above the average for industrialized countries of <a href="https://www.oecd.org/els/family/PF2-2-Use-childbirth-leave.pdf">18%</a>, and very close to that of international leaders. </p>
<p>There are documented benefits to encouraging fathers to take time off with a new baby. Studies of <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/fathers-leave-fathers-involvement-and-child-development_5k4dlw9w6czq-en">men who take parental leave</a> suggest that those dads will be more <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12494">engaged parents</a> months, or even years, later. Having more men take leave can also <a href="https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OASP/legacy/files/PaternityBrief.pdf">promote equality at work</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2011.06.011">home</a> more generally. </p>
<p><iframe id="MeC6a" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/MeC6a/8/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Half as much</h2>
<p>The U.S. structure, however, disadvantages single-parent families, as they can claim only half as much leave as a two-parent family. This is a significant problem because about <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_13-508.pdf">40% of U.S. births are to unmarried parents</a>.</p>
<p><iframe id="2TOKV" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/2TOKV/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>For some <a href="https://www.childtrends.org/publications/dramatic-increase-in-percentage-of-births-outside-marriage-among-whites-hispanics-and-women-with-higher-education-levels">racial and ethnic groups</a>, the numbers are even higher. </p>
<p><iframe id="1P9fB" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/1P9fB/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>There are also large disparities on the basis of <a href="https://www.childtrends.org/publications/dramatic-increase-in-percentage-of-births-outside-marriage-among-whites-hispanics-and-women-with-higher-education-levels">education</a> and <a href="https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2013/acs/acs-21.pdf">income</a>. In short, highly educated and relatively affluent adults tend to marry before they have children. Less affluent and less educated adults are more likely to have children outside of marriage. </p>
<p>Where unmarried parents are <a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2018/04/25/the-changing-profile-of-unmarried-parents/">living together</a>, or otherwise both involved in child care, it makes sense that each should be able to take parental leave. But many single parents, disproportionately <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/stories/2018/single-parent.html">women</a>, raise children on their own, even from birth. </p>
<h2>A better model</h2>
<p>Other countries that set aside parental leave time for each parent address this issue by having special rules that apply to parents with sole custody. For example, in <a href="https://www.leavenetwork.org/fileadmin/user_upload/k_leavenetwork/annual_reviews/2019/Iceland_2019_0824.pdf">Iceland</a>, generally moms get three months of leave, dads get three months, and either parent can use an additional three months. Single parents, however, can use the full nine months.</p>
<p>U.S. laws could be made more equitable by allowing single parents to take an extended leave, or to share benefits with a different family member – like the baby’s grandparent. As the cost of benefits would be spread through the <a href="https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/key_workplace/2107/">tax system</a>, this would not place an extra burden on individual employers. </p>
<p>Without this change, laws designed to promote labor rights and sex equality within families will likely continue to have the unintended consequence of causing inequality between families.</p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129668/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deborah Widiss received funding from the Australian-American Fulbright Commission for research on parental leave policies. She serves as an unpaid consultant for the Indiana Institute for Working Families; she has advised the organization on legal issues related to the gender wage gap and job protections for pregnant workers.</span></em></p>
Forty percent of US babies are born to unmarried parents. But the new paid leave policy for most federal workers disadvantages single parents.
Deborah Widiss, Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs; Professor of Law and Ira C. Batman Faculty Fellow, Indiana University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/126988
2019-11-18T11:05:56Z
2019-11-18T11:05:56Z
UK election 2019: what the parties say on parental leave and childcare
<p>Both Labour and the Liberal Democrat parties have put forward policies to help new parents. They go further than the current Conservative system but would leave the UK lagging behind many of its international peers when it comes to supporting new parents.</p>
<p>When people have children, they (though it is predominantly mothers) must decide if and when to return to work, and for how many hours. Their decisions are <a href="https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdf/10.1257/app.20160195">influenced by many factors</a>, including household income, education and social norms. Policy plays a role too. It affects the affordability of taking leave, by setting maternity and paternity leave policies, and influences the availability and quality of childcare.</p>
<p>Developed countries have seen huge rises in standards of living since the 1970s. Around 40% of this increase is down <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.3982/ECTA8803">to the increase in women working</a>. So it’s good for the whole economy if women work and produce, or innovate, earn taxes and spend their wages. And <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pol.3.2.97">research shows</a> that providing high-quality, subsidised childcare leads to better outcomes for children in the long run, such as more education and less dependency on welfare.</p>
<p>If parents want to work in the years before their child starts school, the important policies are paid leave and subsidised childcare.</p>
<h2>Existing polices</h2>
<p>While the UK is relatively generous in offering pregnant employees the right to 52 weeks of maternity leave, it falls short on the provision of paid leave. The country comes second last out of OECD countries (loosely defined as developed or richer countries) when it comes to paying women on maternity leave. And fathers receive just two weeks of paid leave, below the OECD average of eight weeks.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301797/original/file-20191114-26259-3lrvm9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301797/original/file-20191114-26259-3lrvm9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301797/original/file-20191114-26259-3lrvm9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301797/original/file-20191114-26259-3lrvm9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301797/original/file-20191114-26259-3lrvm9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301797/original/file-20191114-26259-3lrvm9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301797/original/file-20191114-26259-3lrvm9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301797/original/file-20191114-26259-3lrvm9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Proportion of earnings replaced by maternity benefits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.oecd.org/els/family/PF2_4_Parental_leave_replacement_rates.pdf">OECD</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This means that households are forced to trade the benefit of income against time spent with young children. It also means the uptake of leave by dads is very low. Only <a href="https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/tuc-calls-overhaul-shared-parental-leave">1% of eligible parents</a> use “shared parental leave” which allows partners to take some of the 52 weeks from the mother.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301813/original/file-20191114-26202-ejf335.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301813/original/file-20191114-26202-ejf335.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301813/original/file-20191114-26202-ejf335.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301813/original/file-20191114-26202-ejf335.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301813/original/file-20191114-26202-ejf335.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301813/original/file-20191114-26202-ejf335.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301813/original/file-20191114-26202-ejf335.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301813/original/file-20191114-26202-ejf335.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=FAMILY">Data: OECD Family database</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The UK has seen large increases in childcare subsidies for children before school starting age. The <a href="https://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/articles/free-childcare-for-children-aged-two-three-and-four/">current system</a> pays for 15 hours of childcare a week for all three- and four-year-olds, with an extra 15 hours for three- and four-year-olds of working parents (subject to a maximum earnings threshold), and 15 free hours for two-year-olds in low-income families.</p>
<p>But a big problem with UK policy is that a number of childcare centres are currently underfunded. Childcare charity Early Years Alliance reports that many providers, predominantly in disadvantaged areas, face closure <a href="https://www.eyalliance.org.uk/news/2019/06/early-years-funding-crisis-hits-poorest-children">and 43% have cut back on learning resources</a>.</p>
<p>So when looking at political parties’ pre-school policies, it’s important to understand whether they will close the current funding gap.</p>
<h2>How they stack up</h2>
<p>The Liberal Democrat party <a href="https://www.libdems.org.uk/free-childcare-announcement">promises</a>: </p>
<ul>
<li>35 hours a week free childcare from nine months to school starting age. The party says: “This will close the gap between the end of paid parental leave and the start of free childcare provision.” </li>
<li>An increase in funding for childcare providers to £7.22 per hour for two-year-olds and £5.36 per hour for three- and four-year-olds. </li>
<li>Nothing new in the way of parental leave policies.</li>
</ul>
<p>Labour <a href="https://labour.org.uk/press/labour-launches-major-package-of-reforms-to-deliver-a-workplace-revolution-for-women/">promises</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li>30 hours a week free childcare for every child from the age of two for all parents, not just those on low income.<br></li>
<li>Paid parental leave <a href="https://theconversation.com/labours-maternity-leave-boost-is-a-major-step-forward-but-it-wont-do-anything-for-gender-equality-126709">for a full year</a> for mothers or partners instead of the current nine months, paid at the statutory rate (currently £148.68 a week or 90% of earnings, whichever is lower). </li>
<li>All employees able to work flexibly.</li>
<li>Increasing the minimum wage, which ensures a higher wage for childcare workers.</li>
<li>A Sure Start children’s centre in every community, an increase of 1,000.</li>
</ul>
<p>Both parties suggest they will work to close the gap in childcare provision funding, but the details are unclear here.</p>
<p>Despite these promises, no parties suggest the UK follows trends in countries like Norway, Sweden and others that offer parental leave at full pay. Yet there is evidence that families <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001429211630071X">are vulnerable to unexpected events</a> when mothers are on unpaid leave.</p>
<p>Expanding paid leave from the current offer, which equates to about 12 weeks of average full-time pay, to more like 20 weeks would raise the income <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927537109000785">and career prospects of mothers</a>. But there is very little evidence that it would improve child outcomes.</p>
<h2>Get dads involved</h2>
<p>Paid paternity leave has not yet been mentioned by any party even though it could help families and reduce the gender pay gap. A big difference in wages for women versus men is due to women <a href="https://theconversation.com/through-the-looking-glass-on-gender-pay-gap-transparency-54989">not reaching senior positions</a>, which is due in part to the fact that children are predominantly cared for by mothers, both immediately after having children <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxnaGF6YWxhYXptYXR8Z3g6MjRmYjMxZjlmOTE2YmQyYg">and in the years that follow</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301953/original/file-20191115-66937-1e3aiqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301953/original/file-20191115-66937-1e3aiqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301953/original/file-20191115-66937-1e3aiqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301953/original/file-20191115-66937-1e3aiqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301953/original/file-20191115-66937-1e3aiqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301953/original/file-20191115-66937-1e3aiqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301953/original/file-20191115-66937-1e3aiqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dads need better paternity leave.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/midsection-father-carrying-baby-while-holding-398289151">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Very few fathers take more than the statutory two weeks of paid leave in the UK. This is because, with mothers on average younger and earning less than fathers, it makes financial sense for the mothers to take more leave. So giving fathers leave at full pay is crucial to encouraging more of them to take time off. Other countries have created other incentives, such as Norway’s <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w18198.pdf?new_window=1">successful policy</a> of paid leave that can only be taken by dads.</p>
<p>There is some good news. Big firms in the UK are increasingly announcing generous paid parental leave to be taken by either parent of a new born. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/nov/24/aviva-offers-equal-paid-parental-leave-to-male-and-female-staff">In some cases</a>, up to six months on full pay is offered. For men working in these firms, this essentially offers a use it or lose it policy similar to Norway’s and may have an impact. If the political parties won’t offer it, at least companies are starting to realise the benefits of looking after their employees.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300094/original/file-20191104-88372-xpdf2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300094/original/file-20191104-88372-xpdf2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300094/original/file-20191104-88372-xpdf2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300094/original/file-20191104-88372-xpdf2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300094/original/file-20191104-88372-xpdf2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300094/original/file-20191104-88372-xpdf2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300094/original/file-20191104-88372-xpdf2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-2?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKGE2019&utm_content=GEBannerA">Click here to subscribe to our newsletter if you believe this election should be all about the facts.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126988/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma Tominey receives funding from The British Academy and the Economic and Social Research Council. </span></em></p>
Labour and the Liberal Democrats go further than the current system but would still leave the UK lagging behind many of its international peers.
Emma Tominey, Professor of Economics, University of York
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/126709
2019-11-12T12:03:20Z
2019-11-12T12:03:20Z
Labour’s maternity leave boost is a major step forward, but it won’t do anything for gender equality
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301123/original/file-20191111-194628-fv7clv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C41%2C5521%2C3650&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-holding-baby-while-sitting-on-fur-bean-bag-698878/">Pexels</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Mothers will be given maternity pay for a full year after the birth of their children under a package of new measures <a href="https://labour.org.uk/press/labour-launches-major-package-of-reforms-to-deliver-a-workplace-revolution-for-women/">announced by Labour</a>. The proposals that aim to change the way women are treated at work would involve an increase in <a href="https://www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave">statutory maternity pay</a> – from nine to 12 months. This would allow all working mothers or parents to spend a full year with their new-born babies before going back to work.</p>
<p>Mothers are currently allowed up to 52 weeks maternity leave – but are only paid for nine of them. The first six weeks is paid at 90% of the woman’s average weekly earnings before tax. The remaining 33 weeks is paid at £148.68 per week or 90% of their average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. </p>
<p>Under the current system, mothers going on maternity leave are faced with the challenge of low maternity pay, <a href="https://www.workingmums.co.uk/workingmums-annual-survey-2017/">expensive childcare</a> and <a href="https://www.personneltoday.com/pr/2018/11/more-than-90-of-maternity-returners-say-they-get-no-support-at-work-when-they-go-back-reveals-mmb-survey/">lack of support on their return to work</a>, so it’s great that the Labour party recognises and plans to resolve the discrimination women face in the workplace. But, as it stands, Labour’s plan of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2019-50338831">extending maternity leave pay for another three months</a> at the statutory rate doesn’t do enough to address gender inequality – at both work and home.</p>
<h2>Maternity discrimination</h2>
<p>Women have suffered various forms of maternity discrimination in the UK over the years, such as <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/women-and-equalities/Correspondence/Consultation-response-1-5-19.pdf">redundancy</a>, <a href="https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/our-work/news/pregnancy-and-maternity-discrimination-forces-thousands-new-mothers-out-their-jobs">loss of job</a>, and being <a href="https://www.thejournal.ie/maternity-leave-discrimination-2172443-Jun2015/">overlooked for promotions</a>. And many UK employers see pregnancy as an <a href="https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/our-work/news/employers-dark-ages-over-recruitment-pregnant-women-and-new-mothers">unnecessary burden</a> in the workplace – with little incentive for employers to support pregnant women, or women going on maternity leave.</p>
<p>Indeed, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2019-50338831">Labour’s maternity proposal</a> highlights how slow and late the UK is compared to other <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0958928709352541">countries</a> in making family-friendly policies that foster equality at home and in the workplace. And, even now, this extension of maternity pay, still falls short. This is because it endorses the <a href="https://www.myfamilycare.co.uk/resources/news/shared-parental-leave-two-years-on/">cultural perception of fathers being the breadwinners</a> of the family and mothers the caregivers – highlighting the fact that women in the UK are not considered contributors to the labour market in the same way as men.</p>
<p>The proposal also fails to recognise the importance of a father’s involvement in parenting. This is despite increasing numbers of dads sharing parenting responsibilities and the <a href="http://www.modernfatherhood.org/">breadwinner role</a> in modern families. </p>
<p>Labours proposal also seem to ignore the <a href="http://www.oecd.org/officialdocuments/publicdisplaydocumentpdf/?cote=DELSA/ELSA/WD/SEM(2012)11&docLanguage=En">benefits</a> of dads involvement in the care of their children. This is despite the fact that research has shown that having two parents involved in parenting from a young age is more beneficial for the child – and the couple. </p>
<h2>Lessons from Sweden</h2>
<p>In this sense then, Labour’s proposal can be considered a missed opportunity to bring the UK in line with other countries that have better policies on gender equality. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2019/635586/EPRS_ATA(2019)635586_EN.pdf">Sweden, for example, is ranked</a> the best place in the world to raise a family because of its generous parental leave policy. Reduced working hours for parents with young children, high-quality childcare and extensive out-of-school-hours care at a low prices are just some of the benefits available in <a href="https://www.oecd.org/els/family/swedenssupportforparentswithchildreniscomprehensiveandeffectivebutexpensive.htm">family-friendly Sweden</a>.</p>
<p>For more than 40 years, Sweden has recognised that mothers and fathers should have <a href="http://www.oecd.org/fr/els/famille/swedenssupportforparentswithchildreniscomprehensiveandeffectivebutexpensive.htm">equal parenting roles</a> – and policies aim to balance gender equality at home and in the workplace. The government gives each parent 240 days paid leave at about 80% of their salary – plus bonus days in cases of twins. Of that leave, 90 days are reserved for each parent and are non-transferable – making Sweden the country with the <a href="https://www.thelocal.se/20190614/sweden-ranked-among-worlds-best-places-raise-a-family-unicef-report">the highest amount of leave reserved for dads</a>. </p>
<p>The 480 days in total does not expire until the child is eight years old. And the generous family-friendly policies also have a positive impact on breastfeeding rates. Sweden has one of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk-has-one-of-the-lowest-breastfeeding-rates-in-the-world-heres-how-to-change-this-126238">highest breastfeeding rates</a> in the world – unlike the <a href="https://internationalbreastfeedingjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13006-019-0230-0">UK, which has one of the lowest</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301124/original/file-20191111-194646-d28m5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301124/original/file-20191111-194646-d28m5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301124/original/file-20191111-194646-d28m5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301124/original/file-20191111-194646-d28m5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301124/original/file-20191111-194646-d28m5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301124/original/file-20191111-194646-d28m5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301124/original/file-20191111-194646-d28m5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Do it like the Swedes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTU3MzUxMjM3MiwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTExMDM2OTI0OCIsImsiOiJwaG90by8xMTEwMzY5MjQ4L2h1Z2UuanBnIiwibSI6MSwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCJYQ01Da2J6UlVTSGRkZWgwVDdrR3poSVB1clUiXQ%2Fshutterstock_1110369248.jpg&pi=33421636&m=1110369248&src=ee9d7779-7f60-4a86-b206-e244e9c750a5-1-19">Shutterstock/PERO studio</a></span>
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<p>So for Labour to really make a difference to gender equality and “the way women are treated at work” the rate of maternity pay also needs to be increased – because well-paid parental leave is associated with improved female retention, higher female employment, less gender stereotyping at work and <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/03ecde34-85e1-11e9-a028-86cea8523dc2">lower gender pay gaps</a>. </p>
<p>Paternity leave duration should be increased to at least 12 weeks and the pay increased – in line with what’s on offer for mothers. And shared parental leave pay must also be boosted to further encourage dads’ involvements in parental responsibilities. This is important, because ultimately, the more dads get involved in parenting, the more gender stereotypes will reduce.</p>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300096/original/file-20191104-88414-1yh2yvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300096/original/file-20191104-88414-1yh2yvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300096/original/file-20191104-88414-1yh2yvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300096/original/file-20191104-88414-1yh2yvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300096/original/file-20191104-88414-1yh2yvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300096/original/file-20191104-88414-1yh2yvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300096/original/file-20191104-88414-1yh2yvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-2?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKGE2019&utm_content=GEBannerB">Click here to subscribe to our newsletter if you believe this election should be all about the facts.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126709/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
What about the dads?
Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi, Senior Lecturer, Law Department, York St John University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/125514
2019-10-23T13:13:49Z
2019-10-23T13:13:49Z
Sporting dads: male athletes need family-friendly policies too
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298286/original/file-20191023-119419-1vpjzhw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C0%2C850%2C420&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Joe Denly, left, was hailed for taking time out to attend the birth of his child. Anthony Martial, right, was fined.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mike Egerton/PA Wire/PA Images and EPA-EFE/Peter Powell</span>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There was a quietly heartwarming moment in this year’s Ashes series, amid all the passion and rivalry that always characterises the England cricket team’s biannual tussle with their bitter rivals from Australia. Batter Joe Denly, a recent recruit to the England ranks, left the field at the end of the first of the five days of the final Test match at the Oval in London and drove 60 miles to <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/oval-diary-joe-denlys-maternity-ward-dash-8lp7cr5fr">be with his wife for the birth of their daughter</a>. </p>
<p>The next day, tired but happy, Denly was back on the field by 6pm facing the Australian bowlers. He made his highest score to date, only narrowly missing out on a coveted Test century.</p>
<p>“It has been incredible,” <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/49704204">Denly told reporters</a>. “It would have been even more amazing if I had managed to get to that hundred mark, but yes, over the moon.”</p>
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<p>Denly’s parenting experience was better by far than that of Manchester United’s French superstar Anthony Martial, who was fined £180,000 and publicly shamed in 2018 for missing a week of training after flying from a pre-season training camp in America to Paris so that he could <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/aug/01/manchester-uniteds-anthony-martial-to-return-to-training-after-birth-of-child">support his wife through a difficult labour</a>, and welcome his son into the world. Two of the days he was away were devoted to travel alone.</p>
<p>A week away from work to be with your wife and newborn child may seem little for most occupations, but not in sport. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1023590369353773056"}"></div></p>
<p>This is the type of sacrifice we expect from professional athletes. Sport proffers the idea that winners never quit and quitters never win. Sporting success is valued more than family. </p>
<p>It is an ethos so entrenched in the history of professional men’s sport that in the 1990s, baseball player Billy Bean even <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/business/2019/10/ex-mlb-player-billy-bean-shares-his-struggle-with-discrimination-in-the-workplace-on-national-coming-out-day.html">missed his partner’s funeral</a> in order to play a game.</p>
<h2>Women’s sport leading the way</h2>
<p>So it’s good to see that Australian cricket recently announced a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/oct/11/cricket-australia-reveals-ground-breaking-parental-leave-policy-for-players">game-changing</a>” policy to provide parental leave for female cricketers. The policy will allow pregnant players to take up non-playing roles on full pay until their child’s birth and then to take up to 12 months of paid parental leave after. This guaranteed contract extension means that it is now easier for female cricketers to combine professional sport with raising a family.</p>
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<p>The policy also permits players three weeks of paid leave if their partner gives birth to a child or if they adopt a child. These policies make Australian cricket among the most family-centred employers within all western cultures.</p>
<p>More so, time away from sport for the sake of family is valued. Instead of managers castigating players the way Jose Mourinho, Martial’s manager at Manchester United castigated his star player, Clea Smith, the general manager of member programs at the Australian Cricketers’ Association said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The policy is designed to keep female players in the game for longer which will have a positive impact at all levels of the game.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Female tennis players are now afforded <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/dec/13/wta-protected-rankings-tennis-motherhood-tennis-serena-williams">greater rights and protections</a> on their return to the sport following maternity leave. Similarly, Nike will no longer financially penalise athletes due to <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/women/nike-pregnant-athletes-performance-related-pay-cuts-pregnant-alysia-montano-a8913081.html">pregnancy and maternity absences from sport</a>. </p>
<h2>The lack of paternity leave</h2>
<p>The question is: why are professional male athletes, who reside within one of the most lucrative business structures in modern culture, denied “sufficient” paternal leave and castigated when they do take leave? Part of the answer concerns owner and manager greed. But the masculine value of sacrifice also reflects an ethos from which the very basis of elite sport developed.</p>
<p>In the 20th century, competitive team sports were used as a socialising agent to teach boys that there is masculine value in sacrificing the body for the sake of breadwinning and soldiering. Sport has gone a very long way in uncoupling itself from this macho idea with the introduction of <a href="https://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/the-ashes/the-problem-with-this-heroic-ashes-moment-by-steve-smith/news-story/131baca3d5b9a91a1a6c40b78a2469be">concussion substitutes</a> in cricket and punishments for on- and <a href="https://theconversation.com/rugby-league-may-finally-have-reached-its-tipping-point-on-player-behaviour-and-violence-111421">off-field violence</a> in many sports. But men are still expected to sacrifice their family commitments in the pursuit of sporting success.</p>
<p>This type of sacrifice will one day be relegated to the dustbin of history. Fathers are increasingly placing their <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49564467">own and their family’s emotional needs</a> first. If a sportsman is financially capable of taking time away from work – which an increasing number of elite athletes are – you’d expect that, given the way attitudes to masculinity are changing, they will. Or, as Martial rightly stated: “I will always put my family first.”</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1024695368917942272"}"></div></p>
<p>Most men today would find taking only one week of paternal leave from work insufficient. We therefore suspect that professional athletes will push for more. We also suspect that owners of sports teams will continue to resist, preferring profit over players’ welfare. To this end, it’s vital for the media to stop accentuating this idea of sacrifice and instead to frame athletes as superheroes precisely because they put their families first.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125514/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Men are still expected to prioritise sport over their families.
Keith Parry, Senior Lecturer in Sport Management, University of Winchester
Eric Anderson, Professor of Masculinities, Sexualities and Sport, University of Winchester
John Batten, Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology, University of Winchester
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/122047
2019-08-30T04:16:22Z
2019-08-30T04:16:22Z
Father’s days: increasing the ‘daddy quota’ in parental leave makes everyone happier
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290244/original/file-20190830-115401-1bz895j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=282%2C179%2C3999%2C2561&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There's increasing evidence that encouraging fathers to take paternity leave has positive, perhaps even surprising, results.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“To all the Dads in Australia,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison <a href="https://www.liberal.org.au/latest-news/2018/09/02/pm-scott-morrisons-fathers-day-message-all-daggy-dads">declared in his Father’s Day message</a> last year, “keep up the good work, because the kids of our country need the best dads possible.”</p>
<p>What can a government do to encourage the best fathers possible? The single greatest gift might be functional parental leave policies that actually encourage men to take time off and be active early in family life. </p>
<p>Right now paternity leave in Australia isn’t working for fathers. Just <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/publications-articles-corporate-publications-annual-reports/department-of-social-services-annual-report-2017-18">one in four</a> use the two weeks’ leave available to them as “partner pay” in the first year of a child’s life. The obvious reason is it is paid at the minimum wage, which means it doesn’t resolve the conflict that fathers face in choosing between financially supporting or spending time with their families. </p>
<p>We need to bridge the gap, because there’s increasing evidence that encouraging fathers to take paternity leave has positive, perhaps even surprising, results.</p>
<h2>Increasing the daddy quota</h2>
<p>Parental leave entitlements are a combination of government and workplace arrangements, so what’s available to dads can differ. The minimum entitlement in Australia, as mentioned, is the federal government-paid “<a href="https://www.humanservices.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/dad-and-partner-pay">Dad and Partner Pay</a>” (DaPP). The government also provides 18 weeks’ pay at the minimum wage to the primary care giver, but fathers claim this in <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4125.0%7ESep%202017%7EMedia%20Release%7EOne%20in%2020%20dads%20take%20primary%20parental%20leave%20(Media%20Release)%7E11">just 5%</a> of cases.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/paid-parental-leave-plan-ignores-economics-of-well-functioning-families-67549">Paid parental leave plan ignores economics of well-functioning families</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The tendency is for mothers to also take the bulk of leave entitlements in “shared parental leave” systems, where leave is granted to the couple, who then decide how to split it. New Zealand and Canada have such systems, and the evidence is they do not encourage fathers to take leave. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289990/original/file-20190829-184207-12ea3q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289990/original/file-20190829-184207-12ea3q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289990/original/file-20190829-184207-12ea3q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289990/original/file-20190829-184207-12ea3q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289990/original/file-20190829-184207-12ea3q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289990/original/file-20190829-184207-12ea3q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289990/original/file-20190829-184207-12ea3q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Studies suggest increasing paternity leave is associated with both fathers and mothers being happier.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>The best example is probably Sweden, a pioneer of parental leave. It introduced generous entitlements <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/rsa/456">in 1974</a>, paying up to six months in shared leave. But just 10 days were reserved for dads. Just <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/world/europe/10iht-sweden.html">6% of fathers</a> took up any of the shared leave. </p>
<p>In 1995 Sweden upped the “daddy quota” to bring more balance to the scheme. Now the Swedish government mandates <a href="https://sweden.se/quickfact/parental-leave/">three months’</a> leave as the exclusive right of either parent, with a total of 480 days in shared parental leave. </p>
<h2>Emerging evidence</h2>
<p>There is increasing evidence of the benefits of ensuring a “daddy quota”. </p>
<p>A new study tracking the outcomes of paternity leave in <a href="https://www.oecd.org/policy-briefs/parental-leave-where-are-the-fathers.pdf">South Korea since 2007</a> concludes that taking paternity leave is positively associated with life satisfaction for both <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001879119300685">fathers and mothers</a>. </p>
<p>Iceland introduced four week’s dedicated paternity leave in 2001. A <a href="https://arnaolafsson.weebly.com/uploads/2/3/7/5/23754531/marital_stability.pdf">2018 study</a> of 600 families compared the relationship stability of couples who had children just after the reform with those who had children just before (and who were therefore ineligible). The researchers found fathers taking the leave was associated with significantly less <a href="https://arnaolafsson.weebly.com/uploads/2/3/7/5/23754531/marital_stability.pdf">relationship breakdown</a>. Their divorce rate was 8.3% lower five years, and 3.4% 15 years later. </p>
<p>One probable reason for these surprising results is indicated in a 2014 Swedish study that suggests fathers’ taking more parental leave leads to greater later sharing of childcare and housework. The study, based on surveys of 235 women and 154 men, found there was subsequently <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.5172/jfs.2014.20.1.19?casa_token=877yX7qMwUMAAAAA:TtAfPXwWm6aJamxJXSuj1DukXpAK233SetsQzHg-gKUoRDlJmMDSGHV272vIn2cQcVj0qr4gB0OPKw">more equal division of responsibilities</a> when dads took more than a month’s paternity leave.</p>
<h2>Improving the system</h2>
<p>Given the opportunity, most fathers would like to take more family leave. In a 2014 <a href="https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/SWP_Report_2014.pdf">survey</a> of 1,000 new Australian dads who had taken DaPP leave, 75% said they wished they could have taken more leave. In more than half the cases, the reason was affordability. More than a quarter also reported experiencing discrimination when requesting or taking parental leave.</p>
<p>Given the emerging evidence of long-term positive benefits for families, we need to talk about ways to increase the daddy quota.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fathers-also-want-to-have-it-all-study-says-60910">Fathers also want to ‘have it all,’ study says</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Designing parental leave systems isn’t easy. Getting the balance right is hard. There are significant equity debates. Who pays? Is it more equitable to pay a flat or minimum rate? Is it more effective to peg the rate to an individual’s salary? Should there be a deadline on when leave is taken? The Swedish system, for example, gives parent seven years, recognising that children’s needs don’t diminish once they can feed themselves.</p>
<p>But if we truly want the best dads possible, we should be discussing how to support them with more than words.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122047/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Duffy receives funding from the Vice Chancellor of Western Sydney University's Gender Equality Fund</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aila Khan and Patrick van Esch do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Encouraging fathers to take paternity leave has positive, perhaps even surprising, results.
Sarah Duffy, Lecturer, School of Business, Western Sydney University
Aila Khan, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Western Sydney University
Patrick van Esch, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Kennesaw State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.