Intersection Subject Line
Plus: American workers want childcare subsidies. Few employers provide them.
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| DELIVERING ON DIVERSITY, GENDER EQUALITY, AND INCLUSION
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| In this issue, we look at how companies can make workplaces work for moms. |
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| Reshma Saujani is founder of the nonprofit Girls Who Code and the Marshall Plan for Moms (on which McKinsey has served as a knowledge partner), a campaign to center mothers in America’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. In a recent edition of McKinsey’s Author Talks, Saujani discusses her latest book, Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work (and Why It’s Different Than You Think). Here are three points from an ardent discussion. |
| Women—particularly working moms—are not OK. In Canada and the US, one out of three working women are thinking about leaving the workforce or downshifting their careers. Sixty percent of moms in the US say that the pandemic has negatively affected their mental health. (That’s compared with less than half of dads.) And American women are still down over one million jobs since the start of the pandemic. |
| As Saujani puts it, “This isn’t just a pandemic story. For far too long, we have been juggling too much. We were sold a big corporate lie: that we could ‘girl boss’ and ‘lean in’ our way to the top. We have always participated in a workforce that’s not only not built for us but also has been stacked against us. I think moms are tired. I think we’re burned out. I think we’re angry.”
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| Companies should care. Saujani says it’s time for employers to pay up and make workplaces work for moms—starting with subsidizing childcare. The author puts it plainly: “Childcare is an economic issue.” She points out that the lack of affordable childcare is keeping many moms out of the workforce. Only 11 percent of American workers have access to employer-subsidized childcare, according to the latest federal data. Meanwhile, nearly 60 percent of Americans surveyed by Just Capital say that employers should offer discounted or subsidized childcare.
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| McKinsey research shows that the need to take care of family is a significant cause of joblessness among American parents and that childcare responsibilities are among the top reasons working mothers are considering leaving their jobs.
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| In Saujani’s view, parental leave should be paid and mandatory. Saujani says that companies should tie executive performance reviews and compensation to whether male employees with children take paternity leave. As she explains, “Those first few months when you have a child are so critical to a couple negotiating their to-do list. Companies can actually help advance gender equality at home through the policies that they set forth.” McKinsey research shows that paternity leave can level the playing field for working mothers and helps set the foundation for equal distribution of household responsibilities long after parents return to work.
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| Check out this previous issue of Intersection for a look at the global division of unpaid labor and the Bank of Japan’s goal for all male employees who have children to take parental leave starting next year.
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| Editor’s note: Saujani has also been outspoken about her experiences with infertility, miscarriage, and surrogacy—and how companies can better support employees who are breastfeeding.
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| — Edited by Julia Arnous, an editor in McKinsey’s Boston office |
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