More Companies Are Giving Mom and Dad Equal Paid Parental Leave

The number of companies ditching paid maternity and paternity leave for gender neutral parental leave is growing.

Of the largest firms in the US, 9% offer at least 12 weeks off for all new parents, regardless of their gender and caregiving role. The list of new entrants includes Morgan Stanley and Pinterest Inc., which both recently updated their benefits policies.

That’s up from 6% a year earlier, according to a recent report from JUST Capital, which analyzed policies from 951 companies in the Russell 1000 index through September. Another 16% of companies offer parity, but less than 12 weeks off. These include firms like H&R Block Inc. and Cigna Corp.

While the vast majority of US workers do not receive any paid family leave at all, the companies that do offer the benefit tend to provide more generous maternity than paternity leave. Such inequities can feed the gender pay gap, as women take on more unpaid work at home and men put in more paid hours at their jobs. When fathers take paid time off, it helps mothers engage in paid work, driving up their labor-force participation and wages.

“This is definitely one solution to a bigger challenge in the United States,” said Tolu Lawrence, head of corporate impact at JUST Capital.

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