Paternity leave improves children's health & strengthens families

When Fifth Third Bancorp introduced our four-week paid paternity leave last August, some executives quietly wondered if men would take it.

A 2016 Deloitte study showed that more than one-third of fathers wouldn't take paternity leave because they fear it might jeopardize their position at work. That same study revealed that more than half of all respondents (men and women) thought spending time with their newborn would be perceived as a lack of commitment to work.

Yet research tells us that paying parents to take time off after the birth of a child is better for the baby. Paid leave improves children's health and strengthens families, according to the National Partnership for Women & Families. That same study showed that men who take two or more weeks off after a child's birth are more involved in the direct care of their children nine months later than fathers who take no leave.

It's more than that: Offering new fathers paid leave is one path toward gender pay equality. A Department of Labor study shows that when men take paternity leave, it may increase the ability of mothers to engage in paid work, with a positive effect on female labor force participation and wages. Paternity leave can help because, so long as women take time off work after the birth of a child and men don't, women will miss opportunities at work and there will continue to be a perception of a lesser commitment from women.

That's one of the reasons we introduced a four-week Baby Bonding leave - offered to mothers in addition to their standard maternity leave - and to fathers. Fifth Third falls in the 20 percent of big companies that offer paid leave to new fathers.

Our attempt at creating a more family-friendly culture is working. Since it was introduced, nearly 75 percent of our male employees eligible for paternity leave have taken it. We were both blown away and thrilled.

Jim O'Dette is a Fifth Third employee in the Chicago area who is among the men who have taken paid paternity leave. He sees both the family benefit and the company benefit to paternal leave.

"Until men are taking paternity leave and being gone for a while - even if it isn't 12 weeks - we won't achieve gender equality at work," Jim said. "When men and women both take time away and both transition back in, it will lead to a more equal, engaged and productive workforce."

He's right. Fifth Third's workforce is about 60 percent female, yet women make up only 23 percent of senior leaders - a problem across the industry. Why is that? The Bank learned that women who took maternity leave were leaving the bank during their first year back at twice the rate of all female employees.

To address that loss, Fifth Third created a Maternity Concierge for our pregnant employees and women with babies under one year to help with errands, find doctors and day care. In the program's first year, many employees have told us that the help has been invaluable and allowed them to continue working.

While some women will want to stay home after having children, we want to help reintegrate and grow who choose to stay. We are hopeful that retaining women will lead to more women in senior positions.

Until we have men taking leave, too, no program will help equalize men and women in the workforce. The idea is not just to offer a leave, but to create an environment in which parents feel comfortable taking it. And while our employees will take more paid time off with this leave, the reward is well worth this investment in our employees: We are more likely to keep them and their passions for years. It's a good investment. And it's the right thing to do.

• Teresa Tanner is the chief administrative officer for Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bancorp, the 13th largest U.S. bank. She is the architect of the Maternity Concierge program.