Workplaces need to provide better support and flexibility to parents coming back from having a child. And more needs to be done to redress the imbalance of working mums vs working dads.

Jessica Heagren is the founder of Careers After Babies, and an advocate for gender equality in the workplace, particularly for women coming back after maternity leave. Jess has conducted extensive research on the career impacts of having children and has published a report uncovering some surprising statistics that don’t all make for happy reading.

Three reasons to listen

• Explore the challenges and solutions for women returning to work after maternity leave
• Understand the impact of traditional gender roles on shared parental leave and workplace dynamics
• Learn the importance of empathetic and inclusive line management in supporting working parents

Episode highlights

• [00:10:54] The Careers After Babies report
• [00:12:07] Gender pay gap
• [00:13:57] Why only 15% of couples talk about who works
• [00:16:25] The 7 themes from the report
• [00:21:57] "Everyone's replaceable"
• [00:25:51] What the next generation of parents holds for the worwkplace
• [00:27:48] The need for more empathy
• [00:33:34] Have the conversation
• [00:34:48] Jess' media recommendation
• [00:36:15] Takeaways from Dan and Pia

Links

• Connect with Jessica via LinkedIn
• The Equal Parent: Why Sharing the Load Matters, by Paul Morgan-Bentley
• The Careers After Babies report
• Leave us a voice note