Paying for It: What Makes a Girl a Rich? A Report on the News on CNN with Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg
Editor’s Note: Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg are co-CEOs and co-founders of theSkimm. The opinions expressed in this commentary are their own. View more opinion on CNN.
People working in tech believe that their companies are engaged in a bait and switch, after selling not just a job but a lifestyle, with child care, mental health support and plentiful paid time off. For new parents, generous leave was part of the draw. Many had assumed that their parental leave came with some legal protection, and were distraught to learn they were caught up in mass job cuts. Being on leave doesn’t protect someone against mass layoffs unrelated to leave.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation released a report in September that cites research estimating the world won’t reach gender equity until 2108. The lack of paid family leave has added to the inequalities in the workplace as women continue to shoulder the burden of caring. Furthermore, because women earn less on average than men, they have to work longer for the same amount of pay. The increase in the gaps only applies to women of color.
As the way we save and invest shifts due to evolutions in fintech and cryptocurrency, information is key to ensure women have a seat at the table. A foundation of knowledge offers women an opportunity to take control of their finances and feel empowered when building wealth.
Business leaders need to provide women with resources that not only support their long-term goals – like 401(k) programs, stock options and equity in the company they are helping to build – but also offer financial education programs that can help them make smart saving, investing and retirement decisions. workshops that help set financial goals or services that help track spending and saving habits are possible.
Family-Friendly Benefits at the Skimm: The Golden Age of Corporate Benefits in the Post-Newborn Era after a Baby
We had a paid leave policy at the skimm that was put in place before any expectant parents joined the team. For all parents, it offers 18 weeks of paid family leave (including for adoptive, surrogate and fostering) as well as emotional, mental and financial resources. And we’ve already had several team members – including Danielle – utilize it. Policies such as paid family leave allow businesses to show that they support their employees, which helps with retention.
They are adjusting to life without a job after having a baby. LinkedIn and Twitter have been filled with accounts of workers being laid off while on parental leave or even, in at least two instances, while delivering a baby. It comes with a mental health toll as many workers who are laid off from their jobs have experienced, including immigrants tied to employment.
But in the last five years, companies scaled up family-friendly benefits for some workers in what human resources experts called the “golden age” of corporate benefits. A study from Mercer found that 54 percent of large companies covered in vitro fertilization in 2022, compared with 36 percent in 2015, and 19 percent covered egg freezing compared with 6 percent in 2015.