Policy pioneers

Very happy to report what can only be described as some genuine progress this month in not just one but four (yes, four!) places. Two countries and two companies have demonstrated that they understand the importance of gender neutral policies and are out there making it happen: Spain and Volvo have announced gender neutral parental leave allowance, New Zealand have announced compassionate leave for parents of any gender in the sad event of a miscarriage and Channel 4 will from now be giving time off to parents who have lost a child - again, a gender neutral policy.

I really believe that one of the keys to unlocking gender equality is getting rid of the lack of equality and neutrality in the way women and men are treated by the places they work and that we won’t see 50/50 at work until we see 50/50 at home. When men take paternity leave, it drives equal responsibility for the ‘unpaid work’ at home and for the kids that lasts years beyond the paternity leave itself.

Many men also express that they would like to share the burden of parenting, but that this is absolutely not something their employers expects or accepts from the men in their organization, to the point of questioning their commitment to their job or career. If men are to sign up for 50/50 at home we need them to be treated as as legitimate a parent as a woman/mum, including when a baby or child is lost.

So three cheers for Volvo, Channel 4, Spain and New Zealand for being policy pioneers, but let’s remember that the policy is only step 1, it needs to move from paper to practice: there is already a lot of resistance in Spain, from questioning the need for equal paternity leave to questioning the commitment of the men who would like to take it. Well I say shame on anyone who is pouring cold water on these policies. When we see these brilliant (and all too rare) gender equality interventions, we should be grabbing them like flags and running for the hills, waving them in celebration for all to see and follow.