London, England–A perhaps unlikely source has struck a blow against a female-only workplace benefit. In a major speech last week, Nicola Brewer, Chief Executive of the UK”s new Equality and Human Rights Commission, said the three-fold expansion of paid maternity leave in the UK over the last decade has “entrenched the stereotype’ of women as the primary caretaker of children. And that, she explained, has led to increased discrimination against mothers by employers, whether intentional or not.
The employers” bias is not because the workers in question are women – it”s because employers” self-interest is to prefer workers whose focus is solely their job, not their family. And because of the mom-as-primary-caregiver stereotype, women get the brunt of this. This is just as true in the US – just think of the stereotypical technology professional: young, unmarried and childless, who can work countless overtime hours with neither spouse nor child to interfere with the needs of the enterprise.
So, employers are less likely to hire, less likely to promote, and less likely to offer in-house training to women seen to be on the “baby track.’ And, because the best jobs aren”t friendly to families, recent mothers themselves choose lesser positions upon returning to work. Out of necessity, they value “flexible’ work schedules over compensation and long-term advancement.
In light of this, Brewer actually took a stab at the feminist notion of a male-female gender gap, stating, “Women and men are not being paid different rates for the same job – they are taking different jobs after they have children.’
Brewer”s solution is for men to, “take a bigger role in parenting.’ Her implication is if men and women ultimately took parenting leave equally, the gender effect would disappear. But the UK only recently began offering 2 weeks” paternity leave, paid at 117 pounds (approximately $245) per week. Brewer pointed out that only 20% of British men even take advantage of the provision. Yet, rather than bash the dads, Brewer again pointed back to the mom-as-primary-caregiver stereotype.
Much to our amazement, Brewer quoted US “post-feminist’ pundit and author Kathleen Parker, from Parker”s book Save the Males, “We regard the contribution of fathers as optional seasoning, as though children are little casseroles, especially tasty with a pinch of Dad, but guests will hardly notice if you leave him out.’
Making sure no one missed her point about the workplace, Brewer said, “The economic penalty for fatherhood is too high,’ and – debunking notions of irresponsible fathers – she said, “most men feel acute pressure to increase their household income (…) in fact, their working hours and pay rise.’
And what does the employer see, as a result of the new dad”s increased productivity? A male worker more “dedicated’ to the job. Thus, we get a “self-fulfilling prophecy’: gender bias: bias perpetuated by “pro-woman’ parenting stereotypes and by female-only “benefits.’
On a local note, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) recently announced it will apply the Massachusetts Maternity Leave Act (MMLA) to both women and men. MCAD does not directly set policy – that”s the legislature”s job – but judges discrimination complaints. The Commission indicated it will hear applications from men alleging denial of maternity leave.
Interestingly, the Commission came to this decision because of Massachusetts” relatively recent legalization of same-sex marriage. Explained MCAD Commissioner Martin Ebel, “If two women are married and adopt a child, then they are both entitled to leave under the [MMLA], and yet if two men are married and adopt a child, they would be entitled to no leave under a strict reading of the statute.’ (…) “That result was troubling to us, and we didn”t think it was in keeping with our mandate by statute, which is to eliminate, eradicate and prevent discrimination in Massachusetts.’
Regardless of what motivated Ebel and the Commission to come to their decision, the potential effect could benefit far more heterosexual fathers than anyone else.
Our hats off to Nicola Brewer and Martin Ebel for their all-too-rare intellectual honesty.