The High Cost of Maternity
“These are the prime years for establishing a successful career. These are the years when hard work has the maximum payoff. They are also the prime years for launching a family. Women who leave the job market during those years may find that they never catch up.”
This quote from MIT economist Lester Thurow comes from an HBR article about the impact of taking a career break (usually related to caring for children) on women's careers. The statistics on the impact are certainly compelling: women are much more likely than men to take a break from their career (43% of women with children will take a career break at some point), and when they do, it can greatly hurt their earning potential over the course of their career. Women who take three or more years away from their career have been shown to earn 37% less when they return.
But the cost of taking a break from their career isn't just borne by the individual woman. Employers also suffer from the exodus of women who leave the workforce during their prime years. In addition to the loss of diversity in their workforce, employers are also at risk for a decrease in revenue when women leave- calculations suggest that the median employee generates a 3x ROI on their salary in the form of revenue.
So, why are women leaving? And what can we do about it?
Unfortunately, many women leave their careers (temporarily or permanently) because they feel they have no choice. Despite the significant progress in women's rights over the past 50 years, women still spend more than double the time that men do on household responsibilities. 58% of moms say that they are primarily responsible for both raising children running a household- in addition to working, in many cases. Under the pressure to do it all, sometimes something has to give. That "something" is usually their career.
While today many women feel that their only option is to put their career on pause, it's possible for employers to increase retention of women by giving them more options.
First, employers can put programs in place that support employees to plan for and have a family. These supports should provide employees with information and coaching on the path to having a family, including but not limited to fertility, planning for childcare, and preparing for parenting. The Sensiboo System is one such program- it is a three-step process that prepares and supports future parents along their journey into early parenthood.
Secondly, employers can develop policies that support "off-ramping" and "on-ramping" in careers, giving women more options to stay with their employer long term when they need to (even with the above supports in place) give more time to their children or other responsibilities temporarily. This HBR article provides valuable information on how to do that.
The benefits of keeping women in the workforce are plentiful- women in the workforce increases revenue potential by doubling the labor pool, and workplaces with a higher percentage of women are reported to have more organizational dedication and less burnout, among other benefits. Yet many employers don't take full advantage of these benefits as current policies and lack of support lead to many women leaving the workforce over time. By evolving policies and investing in supportive programs for all people who aspire to be parents, companies can experience ROI in the form of increased female employee retention.
Visit https://www.sensi.boo to learn more about the benefits of supporting current and future parents.
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