Why universal paid leave is a linchpin for all working women
And how allies in tech can help push for progress for everyone
Hitting the pause button this week to interrupt you with a subject very near and dear to my heart: paid leave and women in technology. As a working mom with two small children, I’ve taken two leaves in my career, both supported by “generous” (by American standards) leave policies at tech or tech-adjacent companies. I am one of the lucky ones, and even with paid leave, birthing children and then navigating the US’s fragmented healthcare and childcare systems is still a complete and total mindfuck. It’s better in tech, but it’s still critical for builders to advocate for universal paid leave for everyone. Read on for why, and if you’re able donate what you can to an organization doing the good work below. Have an awesome weekend! -Nickey
After a years-long pandemic that directly impacted my family in wild ways, it’s getting harder to shock me. But last week when Joe Manchin, a 75-year-old white man, shot down paid leave for all Americans because he thought it was prone to fraud (based on no actual data that I could track down), I was gobsmacked. It’s very American to let one person who has not birthed a child ever, one person who has not had small children afoot since the literal 1970’s, make decisions for working families everywhere. Flash forward to this week, and thanks to the persistent hustling of paid leave supporters everywhere, it’s back in the bill, but highly condensed and sorely lacking.
We’re all aware that women are still in crisis mode. The lingering pandemic has impacted women in many ways, and it’s not over yet. Under the best circumstances, women have a long, steep hill to climb before we’re back at the status quo (which was already far behind to begin with). The only good news about an “everything is different now” shift caused by the pandemic is that we get to rebuild.
It’s not great out there (even in tech)
If you’re a builder, depending on where you’re at, you likely have access to some sort of paid leave policy. The technology industry is one of the most progressive industries when it comes to parental leave and it continues to get better. Since having my first baby at Etsy in 2016, where I had five months off paid, I’ve seen the industry continue to increase leave policies for working parents. This is great progress!
Furthermore, with worker shortages and the onset of the great resignation, we’re seeing power dynamics shift from employers to employees in new ways. I suspect this will continue to push all companies to reevaluate rigid policies that no longer suit the best interests of their people. That said, while tech leave policies are generous and getting better, they still manage to fall short:
Many policies are extremely rigid and don’t account for the unpredictable nature of having babies. Turns out it’s hard to plan for unpredictable events like childbirth (due dates are a guess), premature labor happens, traumatic births happen, children get sick and racial inequities make the experiences of women of color vary widely. Women of color experience higher rates of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity which make some policies woefully inadequate.
Leave is still stigmatized and many parents, especially women, don’t feel comfortable taking their full leave for fear of being setback once they return.
Some leave policies are still not gender-neutral, putting the primary caregiving responsibilities on the person who gives birth.
They don’t apply equally across all staff, leaving hourly workers to different policies than salaried employees. Lower-wage or hourly employees get less time off. This is not equitable!
There’s still the old-fashioned bro-hort that has a hard time building resilient organizations that allow people time off. Are men okay?! 🚩 🚩 🚩 🚩 🚩 🚩 👇🏻
If you work in technology, take a look at your company’s policy and run it through the list above. Ask leadership how they plan to evolve it to support parents post-pandemic.
How universal paid leave supports women in technology
While parents working in technology have more paid leave than parents outside of technology, they still need paid leave to apply to their own childcare providers, their partners, their families and larger support systems. Paid leave is just the start of a long list of essential infrastructure required to keep women in the workforce, and it’s especially critical that it is in place if we want to continue to increase diversity in technology. In 2020 a study showed that 50% of women drop out of technology careers by the age of 35. Lots of reasons, but one theme is that they have children and have to navigate an exclusive system that makes both working and parenting at the same time impossible. This system has only gotten worse during COVID and the women in the technology ecosystem will surely suffer.
Consider childcare for example, working women rely on other working women to watch their children, and those women also need paid leave, social support, and higher wages to help them navigate life post-pandemic. When daycare workers, nannies, school teachers, and all other essential childcare workers aren’t supported, the entire system breaks. The pandemic alone could cause over 4.5 million child care slots to be lost forever, and employment levels in child care services are ~15% below where they were pre-pandemic.
Women also need partners who have access to paid leave to share the responsibilities of childcare. If their partners don’t get leave and don’t take time off, women shoulder more responsibilities and come back to work without recovering or don’t come back at all.
It’s also important to recognize the difference in equity in paid leave both inside and outside of the technology sector. Generally, 50% of white workers have access to paid leave, while 43% of Black workers and 23% of Latino workers do. There are already too few women of color in technology, and it’s essential that lopsided paid leave policies don’t cause further inequities.
How you can help
While extremely frustrating, there are still things you can do to advocate for change at the right moments in your community and at your companies. Some ways to get involved:
Review the leave policy at the company you work at. Give leadership feedback on how it can be better, more inclusive, and respond to the changing landscape post-pandemic. Make sure it’s gender-neutral.
Make sure the policy is equitable, not just inclusive. Call out inequities when you see them.
Destigmatize when your coworkers take leave. Ask how you can help support. Take leave when it’s your time too.
Review company policy and actions that seek to foster an inclusive environment when parents come back to work. Feeling excluded after having kids is one (of the many) reasons women drop out of technology, help make all of the different versions of them belong on your team and in your org.
Vote for progressive leaders who support policies for working women, especially women of color. And donate your time or money to organizations that are pushing for paid leave progress like PL.US👇🏻 I’ll match your donations dollar for dollar up to $1000 USD if you email me the receipt of your donation. You can respond directly to this email or DM me on Twitter.