Paternity leave will positively disrupt the advancement of gender equality in KSA and beyond
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Parents today are living through multiple challenges – health, economic and environmental. The time has come for a new narrative that sees time devoted to parenting not as a cost, but an investment that is the foundation of productive, resilient and progressive societies.
Caring for a home and family should have no gender. Saudi Arabia is a young country, and as the number of millennial parents in the workforce continues to grow, companies must prepare for the challenges that lie ahead in the future of work. Returning to the status quo following the pandemic will mean that we have not leveraged the learnings that this unprecedented time has taught us – we need an innovation-led transformation of our policies to ensure our employees’ well-being. Recent technological advances and demographic shifts mean millennial parents have more options and more leverage to demand better work-life support from employers.
Mothers benefit when fathers take parental leave around the time of birth as they have more time to recuperate after childbirth, receive more emotional support and experience less stress. Partner support also leads to a smoother transition back to work and fewer experiences of child and flexibility related stigma in the workplace. In fact, fathers’ involvement in childcare has been linked to improved well-being, happiness and increases their commitment to family. They report learning new skills such as prioritizing, role modelling and compassion, which they transfer to the workplace.
Equality and inclusion have always been crucial values in corporations such as P&G and that a significant part of effecting change is encouraging dialogue to uncover insight and solutions. Companies that can, whether they be multinational or local thriving parts of an SME ecosystem, should promote equality in whichever way they can. The recently held #WeSeeEqual Summit is a prime example of how an annual gathering can spark conversation and invite perspective from global and regional opinion leaders to advance the cause of gender equality. A push to enhance parental leave policy such as #SharetheCare is one of the enablers that will take our society one step closer to the goal.
Although company policies can provide the best conditions to enable fathers to spend more time with their children – change needs to come both from employers and fathers themselves if we want to succeed in a better sharing of paid and unpaid work between men and women. This is not only about promoting gender equality at work and at home; companies must commit to improving the quality of life, allowing men, women and children to flourish and our communities to prosper in a better, more equal reality.
The new global minimum level for paid parental leave allows all P&G parents to have an equal opportunity to care for and bond with new children. “Share the Care” launched in January 2021 across the world, and staff in our Saudi Arabian offices are already taking advantage of the additional benefit to boost their parenthood. This initiative is hoped to inspire more industry-leading global parental leave programs and marks an important milestone in our decades-long journey to drive positive change in the space of Equality and Inclusion through real action. The innovative policy sets eight weeks of fully paid parental leave and offers both mom and dad time with children new to their family as well as share and support in caregiving duties. In just a few short months since launch the emotional uplift in new fathers and mothers across Arabia is already being felt.
- Omar Channawi is the chief executive for Proctor & Gamble for Asia Pacific, India, Middle East, and Africa.
