Currently, only one in 20 Australian fathers choose to take primary leave, but with many organisations updating their parental leave policies to remove gender biases, an increasing number of families are reaping the benefits of shared parental leave.
From financial benefits to the household, strengthened relationships between parents and their children, greater career growth opportunities for primary caregivers, and flow-on benefits to businesses, shared parental leave brings value to both the professional and personal aspects of a family’s life.
Financial perks
The financial impact is often one of the greatest roadblocks in fathers taking parental leave, but a working mum can be your household’s greatest asset. Shared parental leave means the ‘primary carer’ does not suffer the long-term career progression impacts that come with having an extended period out of the workforce and continuing the gender pay, income, and superannuation gaps.
Compared to an average 25-year-old father of one, a 25-year old mother of one can expect to earn $2 million less over her lifetime due to increased time away from the workforce to care for the family and lower pay per hour. Shared parental leave reduces the financial hit women take from being the primary carer and can instead add to the family’s lifetime earnings and retirement incomes.
Senior Business Development Manager at QSuper, Sam Wiseman can attest to the financial benefits after taking 16 weeks of parental leave.
“We all understand the costs of a baby, everything from childcare to clothes and food, adds up,” Mr. Wiseman said.
“I was fortunate to have 16 weeks of parental leave. If I didn’t have this time, we would have had to put our child into daycare full time, which would have been very expensive. By taking parental leave, my wife was able to return earlier to full-time work which helped us financially.”
Joanne Tinetti, Senior Financial Advisor at Wealthmed Australia[i], said sharing parental leave could give women the opportunity to maintain their career momentum and buck the outdated gender stereotypes of women as the primary carers and fathers as breadwinners.
“If we can shift this stigma of men caring for children, it would have so many benefits for women and their careers. It improves gender equality in the labour market, and, if there was legislation that supported equal shared care, there would be less focus on employing men versus women,” said Ms. Tinetti.
“Shared parental leave gives women the opportunity to pursue their career, maintaining their contribution to the family household.”
Strengthened relationships
Becoming a parent for the first time is undoubtedly one of the most significant milestones and research shows that fathers who spend quality time with their baby help build a long-lasting bond. Mr. Wisemen recognised this benefit immediately, saying his ability to spend quality time with his children was one of the primary reasons for choosing shared leave.
Dads involved in the early stages of a child’s life also see an increase of confidence in caregiving enabling them to contribute to the care of children more equally, removing the onus on one parent (usually the mother) to juggle career and child-caring responsibilities.
90 percent of fathers who took parental leave also reported an improvement in their relationship with their partner.
Career growth for mothers
Shared parental leave can help working mums pursue or progress their careers with greater flexibility. Women who experience less disruptions in their careers are more likely to climb the ranks, which contributes to closing the gender pay gap and increasing women’s workforce participation. In fact, organisations with more women holding leadership positions will likely experience greater profitability.
“A key reason for me taking parental leave was to give my wife the opportunity to go back to full-time work and make the transition easier for her,” said Mr. Wiseman.
“It can be very hard going back to work part-time after 12 months parental leave, and so, with me having the time off, and taking over all home duties, meant that she could focus on re-engaging at work.”
Benefits to employers
Some organisations and families may be taking baby steps towards equal parental leave, however, Mr. Wiseman believes that if companies supported fathers in taking this leave, it could lead to greater outcomes for everyone.
Companies that encourage and support greater gender quality could generate as much as 15 percent more in net profits compared to companies that don’t. In fact, many organisations reported it is more cost-effective to pay parents to go on parental leave than it is to lose them as the benefit increases employee retention, can attract a greater pool of talent, and has been shown to improve engagement, morale, and productivity.
Transitioning back to work after an extended break can be challenging. For some strategies on how to easily tackle this, take a read of Helen Hawkes’ article for her top seven tips on returning to the workforce after parental leave.
[i] Joanne Tinetti, Senior Financial Advisor at Wealthmed Australia (AFSL 318926)
General advice in this article has been provided by Joanne Tinetti, Senior Financial Advisor at Wealthmed Australia (AFSL 318926). Any advice included in this article is general and has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. As such, you should consider its appropriateness having regard to these factors before acting on it. Before you make any decision about whether to acquire a certain financial product, you should obtain and read the relevant product disclosure statement.
The article was written by QSuper
