Supporting men and women to share caring responsibilities

Join this event to hear leading businesses share the approach they have taken to ‘de-gendering’ their caring policies, ensuring men are encouraged and able to use policies that support a better work life balance – from parental leave to flexible working.

About the webinar
The need to ensure a more equitable balance of caring responsibilities has been highlighted by COVID-19 e.g. more mothers than fathers were furloughed as they picked up the bulk of the extra caring and home schooling required¹. In addition there are signs that men increasingly want employers to support them to play a greater role in caring at home². This webinar will showcase practical steps employers can take to do this – from small cost neutral measures to greater shifts in approach such as equalising parental leave for all genders.

Speakers

• Alison Andrew, Senior Research Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies will share key findings from recent research considering working patterns of parents. This found women are much more likely than men to give up paid work or cut hours after childbirth, even when they earn more³.
• Anthony Fitzpatrick, Head of Colleague Experience and Employment Policy at Aviva. Aviva are one of few organisations to have entirely gender-neutral parental leave policies. Anthony will talk through Aviva’s experiences of supporting men to play a bigger role in the home, sharing practical tips for those organisations wanting to ensure greater take up of their current policies, and considering improving their approach more generally. You can read about Aviva’s approach in a case study shared in Business in the Community’s (BITC) Route Map to Gender Equality
• Elliot Rae, Founder and Editor-in-Chief at MusicFootballFatherhood. One of the UK’s leading experts on fathers in the workplace Elliot was awarded the United Nations’ ‘Change maker of the Year’ 2019 #HeForShe gender equality award.  His foundation, MusicFootballandFatherhood helps organisations explore how they can support fathers to have a better work-life balance.

This event is one of a series considering the key steps recommended in BITC’s Route Map to Gender Equality at Work, a report exploring how employers can protect and accelerate action on gender equality at work in the ‘new normal.’

Audience
This event is open to both BITC members and non-members. It is suitable for diversity and inclusion managers/practitioners and HR/people management managers/practitioners.

BITC’s gender campaign
Achieving a truly gender-balanced workforce means employers must recruit and progress the best talent – irrespective of gender.

The commercial imperative for realising women’s potential in the workplace is clear: gender equality enhances employee engagement, boosts productivity, meets the diverse needs of customers and suppliers, and improves brand reputation.

Find out more about BITC’S gender campaign objectives.

Contact details and further information

For further information contact Emily Rona-Roper, Campaign Manager, Inclusion.

Full joining instructions will be sent before the event.

Following government advice on social distancing, all BITC events over the coming months will be delivered remotely via digital technology. Details on how to join will be sent prior to the event.

LEARN MORE
Business in the Community is creating a skilled and inclusive workforce for today and tomorrow

References

1. How are mothers and fathers balancing work and family under lockdown?’, published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (May 2020).
2. Pandemic could lead to profound shift in parenting roles, say experts, The Guardian (November 2020).
3. Women much more likely than men to give up paid work or cut hours after childbirth even when they earn more, published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (March 2021)