Is parenting support more important than ever?

Family structures and parenting styles have been evolving for years. Once seen as primarily supporting pregnant women, workplace policies must now also account for fathers, single-parent families (80% of which are led by women in France and the number is on the rise) and the so-called sandwich generation (parents simultaneously caring for children and aging relatives).

The COVID-19 crisis intensified the blurring of boundaries between work and home, hitting working parents hard. In 2021, mothers reported being 15% less confident about their professional future in France than men. Globally, nearly one in two women in 2024 said that becoming a parent had had a negative impact on their career.

Is parenting really equal?

While 89% of employees are parents, not everyone experiences parenthood in the same way. An IFOP study from 2021 revealed that the mental load at work was significantly higher for women with children (scoring 5.2) than for men (4.6). This gap often leads mothers to reduce their working hours after giving birth, 31% of women opt for part-time work, compared to just 3% of men. And all that has an impact on women’s salaries and career development. The financial toll is real: five years after the birth of a child, women’s earnings in France drop by 20%, whereas men’s increase by 5%.

Parental support measures can help offset these inequalities, with benefits not only for individuals, but also for companies.

What’s in it for businesses?

According to INSEE and DARES, 32% of mothers say they do not have enough time to do their job properly, due to the mental load of family life. Fathers, on the other hand, tend to work longer hours after having children. The result? Frustration, exhaustion, and increased risk of burnout or withdrawal from the workforce. At the same time, these issues drive up sick leave, cause conflicts within teams, and ultimately, chip away at a company’s value. By proactively addressing these gendered career trajectories, companies can reduce both human and financial risks.

There’s also a strong case for employee retention. Adopting a parental HR policy helps companies to develop an attractive employer brand, particularly among young people between 25 and 35 years old. In fact, almost 82% of employees said they would switch employers for an organization that offered more parenting-related services. The most requested measures? Daycare places (58.3%), followed by supplementary childcare (54.2%) and flexible hours (53.1%).

The issues related to childcare resources are indeed crucial and can represent a strategic investment to reduce staff turnover and strengthen employee loyalty. With limited public childcare support, many companies are stepping in. In the US, for instance Cakes Body covers childcare costs for employees for up to $36,000.

What are the misconceptions and proven ways to support parenthood?

The most widely deployed measure (80%) to manage parental issues in companies is to increase the amount of time employees can work from home.  But that initiative goes against employee expectations, because only 29.1% request it. Let’s look more closely at the practice. According to studies, working from home tends to disadvantage women, who are more often surrounded by children when working (48% vs 37%) and less likely to have a dedicated and isolated workspace (29% vs 42%).

Instead, the Gender Equality Diversity European and International Standard (GEEIS) recommends prioritizing compensation for parental leave, especially for fathers during the child’s first months.

Yet nearly a third of fathers never take parental leave. This is a missed opportunity: as researcher Hélène Périvier and others have shown, paternity leave is a powerful tool for rebalancing gender roles and supporting both parents’ well-being. Companies should not only encourage fathers to take leave in full immediately after birth, but also consider extending it, or offering bonuses for doing so.

Sweden, for example, has the longest (240 days per parent) and most generous parental leave systems in the world (with compensation corresponding to 80% of the salary over 80% of the maximum duration of leave). The results speak for themselves: 90% of fathers use it, and the country boasts one of the highest productivity rates globally.

Beyond these flagship policies, companies can take more practical steps: schedule meetings outside of peak childcare hours, guarantee the right to disconnect or offer enhanced complementary health insurance package for families, particularly single-parent families, etc.

Supporting parents isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s a smart investment in employee well-being, engagement, and productivity.

Charlotte Foulon, for the EVE web magazine