Dive Brief:
- Bank of America, EY, General Mills, Intel, Johnson & Johnson and Microsoft were all among the winners of Working Mother magazine’s 2019 Best Companies for Dads. The publication said the winners on this year’s list support working fathers with benefits like paternity leave, adoption leave, surrogacy and fertility benefits, phase-back-to-work programs, childcare options and employee-resource groups for men.
- Among the winning companies: 100% offer paternity leave, compared with 27% of companies nationally, according to SHRM statistics; 100% offer telecommuting, compared with 69% nationally; 97% offer phase-back programs averaging 17 weeks to fathers returning from parental leave, with 69% offering full pay; and 97% offer backup childcare.
- Fifty companies made the list this year, compared to 35 in 2018.
Dive Insight:
Both fathers and mothers seek support from the workplace. Some of the attention for working fathers stems from studies showing that when working fathers get support, working mothers get the help they need to continue to pursue their careers.
According to research from the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, when dads have access to flexible work options, moms have fewer physical postpartum health issues and improved mental health. At the core of the imbalance in caregiving responsibilities are the traditional roles of mothers and fathers. And although employers can't resolve the difference in socialization between women and men, they can offer benefits that lift the burdens of moms and dads in the workplace.
Studies have found that parental benefits for both men and women have kept women from feeling they have to give up their careers when they take time out to have a family. When Ernst & Young (EY) gave fathers a generous paid leave of 16 weeks, the company said women's turnover rate dropped from being 15% higher than men's 15 years ago to between 0% to 2% today. EY also found that more men took leave once more weeks of leave were offered. These outcomes showed that "leveling the playing field" for working moms and dads can benefit both parents.
As for working dads' opinions, those who received seven weeks of leave said they needed 10 weeks instead, according to an Indeed survey released in June. The survey also found that more than half of the future dads polled considered an employer's paternity leave policy before joining the company.