Equal rights for men is the key to family working

I am writing following the story regarding equality in the workplace, in which the London Business School found that ‘family-friendly’ policies weren’t enough to help women back to work.

Of course they are not. As long as the focus remains on one parent taking the main burden of childcare, no family-friendly policies will be able to provide what families actually need – flexibility for both parents.

Employers need to be aware that, to help women back to work, men need to be able to take on some of the childcare responsibilities as well.

Most parents nowadays would love to be able to share childcare, but the reality is still that fathers making use of family-friendly policies are seen by many in the workplace as not being dedicated to their employer, and therefore not reliable.

Why should this be true? Studies have already shown that mothers who can return to work in a way that allows them flexibility to be with their family are more committed to their employer and give more to them. Why should fathers be any different?

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Until we allow men equal rights to be parents and carers, we will never achieve equality in the workplace.

Rachel Grace, posted on PersonnelToday.com