For the first time, employers are promoting paternity leaves as much as maternity leave.
According to new research conducted by the gender equity firm Executive Coaching Consultancy, employers who actively promote their family friendly credentials have reached a five-year-high.
In the 2024 Parental Fag Index: Cross-Industry Report the findings revealed that one third (35%) more top employers actively promoted their family-friendly features compared to the first report published in 2019. The authors argue that this indicates more employers are aware of the need to market their support to working parents in a competitive manner, as they struggle to retain senior female talent.
Employers who showcased their support via vlogs or blogs reached a new record (60%) – up 11% from last year. Nearly all employers (97%) openly talked about their commitment to working mothers and fathers, an increase of 3%. The trend was to have more organisations showcase visible role models in the workplace, to show how organisational culture supports parental support policies.
The study found that for the first time, employers have published the same amount of information about their paternity policies as they do about their maternity policies, up by 21% from last year, to 57%.
Executive Coaching Consultancy found it encouraging that employers who failed to mention support for working parents has decreased from 31% to 1% over the past six years. The report stated that this showed employers understood the need to support working parents.
In total, 20 of the companies that were included in the report last year improved their position while another 43 maintained their previous ranking. The number of employers who were awarded “beacon status” was down 4% despite this.
In the study that categorized employers into five visibility categories, only 7% were rated in its top group of beacons, down from 11 % last year. Further 47% of companies reached the “fully visible” category, a 10% increase from last year. These employers not only published their full parental policies but also actively promoted their support for working parents.
Helen Ilsley is the parental coaching lead for the Executive Coaching Consulting. She said that she hoped this year’s findings “marked a turn-around in workplace gender equality”. She said that there were evidences that “supporting fathers to share parenting responsibilities equally is key to eliminating the motherhood penalty that accounts for 80% the gender pay gap”.
The authors of the research argued that, until men are supported to equally split childcare, the significant investments many organisations make to retain talented women and increase gender balance on board, as well as close the gender wage gap, is “like driving a vehicle with the hand brake on”.
The report stated: “Organisations who are serious about encouraging men to take paternity leaves and work flexible hours must first demonstrate their careers won’t be penalised for fatherhood.” This means that organisations should start tracking the career and salary progression of workers who adopt these policies, and sharing this data with their employees.
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