The link between supporting women caregivers and building the leadership pipeline in financial services organizations
A survey of managers and executives across US financial services firms reveals how flexibility and other engagement levers can positively impact women with caregiving responsibilities.
Caregivers represent a huge and valuable segment of US financial services organizations’ workforce. In a Deloitte and Workplace Intelligence survey of 700 full-time US financial services managers through senior leaders (just below the C-suite), approximately 85% of women and men respondents say they have primary or shared caregiving responsibilities of children, parents, or others outside of work.1
These caregivers report high levels of engagement and a strong sense of belonging to their organizations. But managing work/life amid the demands of caregiving is a tough balancing act, particularly for women, who continue to shoulder a greater share of caregiving responsibilities than men.
According to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, women dedicate nearly twice as much time per day to caring for and assisting family members compared to men.2 This often leads many women to scale back or forgo their careers. Known as the “motherhood penalty,” a recent study shows around 24% of women leave the workforce within the first year after their first child’s birth; five years later, 17% are still absent; and after 10 years, 15% are still out of the workforce.3 In contrast, 95% of men ages 25 to 54 remain in the workforce after having children.
The study shows that nearly four-fifths of the employment gap between men and women in the United States is due to women having children and serving as the primary caregiver for them.4 Caregiving challenges can be further exacerbated by shifts in family structures, such as the rise in single-parent and dual-income households.
Recognizing gender disparities in caregiving roles, how can financial services institutions consider the unique challenges faced by women caregivers to establish an inclusive and supportive workplace?
Our study reveals that priorities among most caregivers tend to shift based on the type of caregiving responsibilities women take on and their life stages. For instance, surveyed women who care for young children prioritize better benefits, such as childcare, health care, and retirement, and more control over how often they go into the office, more than surveyed women with older children. Meanwhile, surveyed women balancing dual caregiving responsibilities, such as childcare and eldercare, are 1.5 times more likely to say they need more support for their personal needs, such as caregiver support, compared to surveyed women with only childcare responsibilities.
Remote work can help caregivers balance responsibilities
Despite having distinct priorities, most of the surveyed women caregivers highly value flexibility. They report being more likely than non-caregivers to consider leaving their current job if their ability to work remotely were to be eliminated.
Our survey highlights that remote work has had a positive impact on the professional and personal well-being of women caregivers (figure 1). The biggest improvements are seen in the areas of work/life balance, mental health, and relationships with family members. In fact, surveyed women caregivers are at least 1.5 times more likely than responding non-caregivers to say that working remotely improves their work/life balance and relationships with their co-workers, families, friends, and community. Notably, women caring for young children and those who are dual caregivers report significantly higher improvements in mental health compared to women caring for older children.
Equity in caregiving: Leveling the playing field
But it isn’t just women caregivers who can benefit from the ability to work remotely. Our survey results reinforce the benefits of flexibility among male caregivers, too. Among those surveyed, 75% of men report that remote work had improved their relationship with their children, a higher percentage than women caregivers surveyed (67%). This flexibility can afford men greater opportunities for involvement in childcare. Research shows that active participation of men in childcare significantly mitigated adverse employment consequences for mothers with young children during the early days of the pandemic.5
Financial services firms can alleviate some challenges primary caregivers, more commonly women, face by promoting gender equality in caregiving responsibilities. Their efforts to offer programs such as flexible work arrangements and paid leave can help in balancing caregiving responsibilities at home. Offering equal parental leave, irrespective of gender, as some financial services institutions now do, is a positive step toward narrowing the gender employment and wage gap.6
In addition to implementing family-friendly policies, financial services leaders can contribute by openly sharing their vulnerabilities, experiences, and responsibilities as caregivers outside of work. Male caregivers would likely be more inclined to leverage family leave if they feel it won’t be held against them.7
In this regard, sensitizing employees to mitigate unwarranted bias in performance evaluations is another area where organizations can provide more support, especially to dual caregivers. When asked about the challenges preventing them from advancing in their careers at their current organizations, 33% of women respondents with childcare and eldercare responsibilities say their performance isn’t evaluated fairly, compared to 19% of surveyed women with only childcare responsibilities. Dual caregivers also seek more caregiving support from their organizations. Financial services firms, therefore, have an opportunity to enhance the support they offer to women caregivers in managing their dual responsibilities more effectively.
Overall, the survey responses highlight inextricable ties between flexibility, well-being, and caregivers’ ability to manage their responsibilities at and outside of work with less friction. By focusing on supporting women caregivers’ unique needs, financial services institutions can help boost retention among highly engaged women in their leadership pipelines and help create a more equitable tomorrow.
