Letter calls on Boston-area companies to better support parents
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It started with an open letter circulating around Mother's Day.
- "Let's move beyond flowers and brunch and towards responsibility and action" to support working mothers, states the letter, published by YW Boston and Listen to Your Mothers.
Why it matters: Working mothers are more likely than their male counterparts to work part-time or leave the U.S. workforce due to child care or other family obligations.
- A survey from January by the women's inclusion nonprofit Catalyst found that the half of respondents who left voluntarily cited caregiving duties and inflexible work schedules as reasons.
Yes, but: Companies continue to shift toward four- or five-day weeks in the office, most recently TD Bank and Fidelity.
- That often adds another expense for working parents — in a state where day care costs over $27,000 a year — at a time when even dual-income households are strapped.
State of play: So far, 35 companies have signed onto the open letter, says Brianna Aloisio Savage, director of advocacy for YW Boston.
- The letter asks companies to commit to at least six policy priorities, ranging from flexible work schedules to generous paid leave benefits for caregivers.
- The organization plans to share resources with leaders whose companies sign on and discuss their progress.
Zoom in: Eastern Bank, one of the signatories, lets corporate managers set flexible work schedules based on business needs, even as much of the financial services industry has moved in the opposite direction.
What they're saying: "It's an advantage for us when we want to retain talent or attract talent," says Kathy Henry, the company's general counsel, who also leads the human resources team.
Flashback: Henry, an attorney in Boston, knows what it's like to juggle work and child care in order to keep a career.
- Two decades ago, Henry had just returned from maternity leave after having her twins when the firm she worked for gave her a BlackBerry.
- It was a sign of things to come — that the lines between work and home would become blurred — but she was thrilled.
- "I knew that it was going to make it so much easier for me to maintain my career while I was trying to figure out being a mother with two little kids," says Henry, a mother of three.
These days, working parents are taking full advantage of remote and hybrid schedules, including YW Boston leaders.
- Some mothers and caregivers who aren't allowed to work remotely have traded their office jobs for remote or hybrid roles, even if it slows down career advancement.
The bottom line: It doesn't have to be that way, Savage of YW Boston says.
- "I think the next steps are really measuring where people are at and giving them opportunities to engage," she says, "either legislatively or within the walls of their own workplace."