Want to close the gender pay gap? Give dads a break

Just 18 per cent of men surveyed who had taken a career break said they did so for parental leave.

As the federal government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency delivered more sobering news about the stubborn state of Australia’s gender pay gap earlier this month, another gap has emerged that has given me more cause for concern.

New data from the accounting profession shows a distinct gap between the reasons men and women take career breaks. And if we don’t turn our attention to fixing this gap, efforts to eradicate the gender pay gap will remain futile for decades to come.

Just 18 per cent of men surveyed who had taken a career break said they did so for parental leave. This is in stark contrast to the 76 per cent of women who said they had taken a career break to care for children. Meanwhile, more men are taking a career break to travel – 51 per cent – compared with women at 17 per cent.

This career break data from Chartered Accountants ANZ’s latest remuneration survey confirms what many suspect – that women take on most of the parenting responsibilities, which has an impact on their careers and the gender pay gap.

While it is sometimes tempting to pile on the blokes for not stepping up on the home front, in a strange way I feel sorry for them. Well, maybe not so much the ones taking a career break to go find themselves on Mount Kilimanjaro.

The phrase “you can’t be what you can’t see” is often used to explain why we see less women taking on careers traditionally dominated by men. But it’s also a phrase that could be used to describe men and their relationship with parental leave.

If men, particularly those who are in the early stages of their careers, don’t see more male leaders and colleagues taking a career break to care for their children, then how can they ever feel comfortable doing it themselves?

But it’s not just relieving women from the burden of sole parenting so they can be more empowered to participate in the workforce – and ultimately fixing the pay gap – that matters here.

What’s also important is the relationship men can have with their children when they choose to take up parental leave or work in a more flexible and family-friendly way.

I recently listened to Chartered Accountants ANZ vice-president and Deloitte Australia director Tinashe Kamangira describe how he takes his parental leave in a flexible way so he can care for his young children one day a week across a longer period.

“I did initially worry about how people might perceive me working this way, but now I don’t think about it any more as it has been such a positive experience for myself and my family. It has given me a different perspective and a heightened appreciation for what it’s like to be a primary carer; it has made a fundamental difference to my relationship with my sons, my partner and my role in our family.

“And when people in my team see me taking parental leave this way, it lets them know that it’s OK for them to do the same,” he said.

My husband, Peter (yes, some of you may know him), was fortunate to have an experience like Kamangira’s. We also had an arrangement where we could both be carers of our young children. Peter mushed as many carrots and changed as many nappies as I did and to this day our daughters, now teenagers, share a close and very special bond with him. And I genuinely believe that is because he did – and still does – his lion share of caring for our children.

If more men stepped up like this, not only would we start to make meaningful progress on closing the gender pay gap but more men could experience the rich and rewarding benefits of hands-on parenting, which I believe cannot be underestimated.

And just maybe that’s almost as good as finding yourself on Mount Kilimanjaro.

Ainslie van Onselen is chief executive of Chartered Accountants ANZ.