New Report: Traditional Bias Training Doesn’t Work – Bias Interrupters Do
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BIAS INTERRUPTERS TOOLKIT

Family Leave

Incremental steps that improve diversity in your organization can yield large gains. Diverse work groups perform better and are more committed, innovative, and loyal.

It’s time to go beyond just talking about the problem of workplace bias. Bias Interrupters is an evidence-based model that provides solutions. By taking small steps, Bias Interrupters can yield big changes.

We’ve distilled the huge literature on bias into simple steps that help you and your company perform better.

Audio of Bias Interrupters Family Leave Toolkit

THE CHALLENGE

According to a report by Better Life Lab at New America, nearly half of parents didn’t take two days off work after the birth or adoption of a child.1 Studies show that paid parental leave can reduce infant mortality rates and improve long-term child and maternal health.2

Family leave is not just about children. While 30% of Americans say they anticipate needing to take leave to care for a new child, twice that many (60%) say they anticipate needing to take at least some family leave in the future (including caring for ill, disabled, or aging family members).3 In fact, one-sixth of Americans spend an average of 20 hours a week caring for a sick or elderly family member.4

The need for family leave policies is already here, and with a rapidly aging population, these needs are only growing.5 In order to retain the best workers, companies need to step up and create comprehensive leave and work/life balance policies that work. While employers are expected to comply with all applicable Federal, State, and local laws regarding leaves of absence, employers can and should do more to truly support and retain a diverse workforce with caregiving responsibilities.

THE SOLUTION

This toolkit was adapted from the Harvard Business Review article: “Need a Good Parental Leave Policy? Here it is.” by Joan C. Williams and Kate Massinger, available at: https://hbr.org/2015/11/need-a-good-parental-leave-policy-here-it-is.

Equality Action Center. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Footnotes

  1. A. Lenhart, H. Swenson, & B. Schulte, “Lifting the Barriers to Paid Family and Medical leave for Men in the United States,” December 2019. New America: Better Life Lab. https://www.newamerica.org/better-life-lab/reports/lifting-barriers-paid-family-and-medical-leave-men-united-states/
  2. Arijit Nandi et al., The Impact of Parental and Medical Leave Policies on Socioeconomic and Health Outcomes in OECD Countries: A Systematic Review of the Empirical Literature, 96 The Milbank Quarterly 434–471 (2018). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1468-0009.12340; “Paid Family Leave Policies And Population Health, ” Health Affairs Health Policy Brief, March 28, 2019: https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hpb20190301.484936/full/HPB_2019_RWJF_09_W.pdf
  3. A. Lenhart, H. Swenson, & B. Schulte, “Lifting the Barriers to Paid Family and Medical leave for Men in the United States,” December 2019. New America: Better Life Lab. https://www.newamerica.org/better-life-lab/reports/lifting-barriers-paid-family-and-medical-leave-men-united-states/
  4. Paid Leave US, “Making Caregiving Work for America’s Families,” https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K_4Eyd6rZi_om8qvRnzAeYiLwmW1WnyI/view
  5. 10,000 Americans turn 65 every day. – Paid Leave US, “Making Caregiving Work for America’s Families,” https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K_4Eyd6rZi_om8qvRnzAeYiLwmW1WnyI/view
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