When Michael Damiano, the London-based head of rare disease and rare blood disorders for UKIE at Sanofi, brought up for paternity leave the first time, he was “apprehensive and quite nervous.” Yet he ended up taking it three times, twice for the birth of his sons and now for the recent birth of his daughter.
He credits supportive managers at Sanofi for making this possible. “They told me that I need to role-model the behaviors,” Michael says. “They encouraged me to take the full leave and supported me doing it.”
By taking leave, Michael also did the one thing most likely to help women achieve parity in the workplace: He showed up as an equal partner at home.
Women’s participation in the workforce is only now recovering from the pandemic, when the bulk of caregiving (for children and elders) fell upon them, highlighting inequities across the globe. The World Economic Forum’s recent Global Gender Gap Report found that women carry out nearly three times more of the daily care of children, homes, and the elderly than men. “Getting to full economic and political equality for women and girls,” writes Gary Barker, president and CEO of Equimundo: Center for Masculinities and Social Justice, “requires men and boys to do their share of the care work and to be advocates for the care economy.”
Why does this matter for companies? Because when they get closer to parity in their workforce and leadership, they also see an increase in productivity, adaptability to change, returns on investment, and innovation.
By offering parental leave to nonbirthing parents, companies can also position themselves as an employer of choice — the sort of company that high-quality candidates want to work for. Let’s take a look at what’s happening around the globe and how companies can help fathers and nonbirthing parents be more active caregivers.
Globally, parental leave days are on the rise
Over the past 50 years, the average number of maternity leave days has increased from 63 to 107, and paternity leave days have increased from less than half a day to more than nine. The World Bank has found that the more parity there is between maternity and paternity leave, the more women participate in the workforce.
There’s still room for improvement. LinkedIn data in the WEF report shows that women’s representation in the workforce remains below men’s in nearly every industry and economy, with women accounting for 42% of the global workforce and 31.7% of senior leaders. Due in large part to the pandemic, the percentage of women in leadership has now dropped to below 2021 levels.
When men are involved in caregiving, women participate more. They earn more too. According to a study by the Swedish Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation, women’s long-term income after having a child rose by nearly 7% for each month their male partner spent on paternity leave.
Change is happening, slowly, at the governmental level
When it comes to men’s caregiving, change is happening — slowly.
The World Bank has found that only 65% of economies (what the WEF calls countries) guarantee at least 14 weeks of paid leave for mothers and some form of paid leave for fathers. All European and Central Asian economies meet or exceed the 14 weeks of leave for mothers, though the majority of Central Asian economies do not guarantee any type of paternity leave. The United States, on the other hand, doesn’t guarantee either paid maternity leave or paid paternity leave.
By contrast, Sweden is a shining example of how to do parental leave right. Swedish parents are guaranteed 480 days of paid leave per child, to be split between parents as the parents choose. Single parents also receive the full 480 days.
While very few countries are as generous as Sweden, policies are changing. A World Bank report found that seven countries recently introduced policy changes to support parents, including five countries that approved paternity leave for the first time.
Companies can help accelerate the change
Even if your country does not offer generous — or guaranteed — paid parental leave for both parents, companies can play a key role in encouraging nonbirthing parents to be more equal caregivers. Here’s how:
- Offer generous paid leave. Make your paternity leave benefits attractive by providing plenty of paid time off, so that nonbirthing parents have enough time to bond with their new child without financial stress.
- Design inclusive policies. Be sure to include families of all types in your parental leave policies, keeping in mind that families have all sorts of parenting situations — “mom and dad” shouldn’t be held as the standard.
- Implement a “use it or lose it” policy. To encourage employees to take full advantage of paternity leave, offer it as a “use it or lose it” benefit. If nonbirthing parents don’t take advantage of the benefit, they lose it forever. This helps encourage nonbirthing parents to take the time off.
- Remove the stigma that nonbirthing parents face. While many companies — and countries — offer paternity leave, nonbirthing parents are often reluctant to use it for fear of hurting their careers. One way to counter this is by having senior leaders take paternity leave. They can serve as role models and signal that it’s safe to take time off. Likewise, at performance review time, you can assess managers on their success in getting male and nonbirthing parent employees to take paternity leave.
Paternity leave can make your company stand out to high-quality candidates
A good parental leave policy, which includes paid time off for new fathers and nonbirthing parents, makes your company a more desirable place to work.
When you offer generous paid parental leave, it signals to candidates that you care about your employees’ personal lives and well-being. And it can be a big boost to your employer brand.
In an article on LinkedIn, Michael Thorpe, cofounder of Success CXP, writes: “In particular, paternity leave is becoming an effective way for startups and smaller companies to compete with bigger and even more well-known businesses who are still opting for the more traditional approach that overlooks fathers.”
Final thoughts: What’s good for birth parents is good for everyone
When nonbirthing partners take parental leave, it normalizes caregiving for everyone and begins to remove the motherhood penalty that women face. Recent research has found that when men return to work after paternity leave, they show greater empathy for working moms; report fewer sexist beliefs; and become stronger advocates for family-friendly policies.
But there’s another group that benefits when nonbirthing parents take leave: future generations of workers. Research from the University of Southern California has found that caregiving during paternity leave actually rewires men’s brains to improve their nurturing response — which benefits women and children. And it’s a gift for men too.
“I promise you, you won’t remember that Excel file or PowerPoint deck you created,” Michael Damiano says, talking about paternity leave. “But you will always remember the moments you spent with your new baby a few weeks after they were born.”
