Workers Shun Parental Benefits For Fear Of Being Judged, Study Shows

Both mothers and fathers who are employed in the labor market are refraining from using parental benefits that are available to them, out of fear of being judged, penalized or discriminated against, according to new research.

A study conducted in the U.K. by the advocacy group WOMBA, in collaboration with Hult International Business School, found that even though workplace policies designed to support parents have improved and expanded in recent years, many workers are still not taking advantage of them out of concern that doing so would negatively affect their career progression.

Based on narrative interviews, the researchers found that mothers harbor fears of being judged as “less capable” or “less committed” and that, as a result, many are even driven to hide their “parental identities and responsibilities” at work. In some instances, this drives women who feel unable to balance their professional and personal duties to quit the paid labor market altogether.

At the same time, and despite separate research showing that the vast majority of men proclaim to want to be as involved in all aspects of childcare as women, the WOMBA and Hult study found that most fathers are still hesitant to take parental leave.

The utilization of shared parental leave—a policy in the U.K. under which parents, regardless of gender, can share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay—is well below 10% of those eligible.

Commenting on the findings, Alison Green, director of WOMBA, notes that a lack of psychological safety in the workplace is likely what’s preventing people from taking advantage of parental leave and other related benefits.

“Key to ensuring all parents can continue to progress their careers is for employers to invest in considered, family friendly policies, such as equal and enhanced parental leave, structured hybrid and flexible working, and specialist support,” Green says. “But to create tangible progress for working parents, investment must be underpinned by an aligned culture so all parents feel they can use support and arrangements designed for them, without detriment to their careers,” she adds.

Green notes that in order for an employer to foster such a culture of psychological safety, managers need to lead by example and model behavior like taking advantage of benefits. And employees should all consider encouraging those workers who are more junior to them to use policies and benefits.

“Without a psychologically safe culture, policies will amount to little and organizations will fail to implement significant or lasting change,” she adds.