The Parental Fog Index Report 2024

Now in its sixth year, The Executive Coaching Consultancy's Parental Fog Index Report 2024 is an annual ranking of the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers' parental support and transparency of family-friendly policies. 

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Key Findings from the Report

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88% of employers now promote their support for working parents

 
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Over the last six years the number of employers lacking visible parental support policies dropped from 31% to 1%
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For the first time paternity leave is promoted as often as maternity leave

 

Parental support transparency is on the rise, but more action is required to tackle the Motherhood Penalty, which is responsible for 80% of the gender pay gap.   

Since its launch in 2019, the Parental Fog Index Report 2024 has seen a 30% increase in transparency, with the number of employers lacking visible parental support policies has dropped from 31 to just 1. This demonstrates a growing commitment to supporting working parents across industries. 

Other key findings include: 

  • Atkins, Deloitte, Grant Thornton, NatWest Group, Rolls Royce, Santander and Tesco are recognised as leaders in providing parental support, achieving ‘Beacon’ status. 

  • Although there is greater transparency, more efforts are required to demonstrate a family-friendly culture to prevent people, especially men, from being discouraged from taking extended parental leave.

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Executive Summary

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At a time when organisations are making significant investment to retain talented women, increase gender balance on boards, and close the gender pay gap, many employers are frustrated that progress isn’t happening as fast as they and their shareholders would like to see.

There is plenty of evidence which shows that eradicating the motherhood penalty is key to accelerating progress. When organisations deliver initiatives to tackle gender-based inequality while mums experience a hit to their career in return for flexibility, the result is like driving a car with the handbrake on.

For mums to have real choice in how they prioritise work and childcare, dads need to equally share parenting. We celebrate the progress many employers are making to support dads. Paid, extended paternity leave, encouraging men to be loud and proud when they step away from work for parenting duties, gender-neutral family-friendly policies, these are just some of the initiatives best-practice employers have introduced in recent years.

 

We wait with baited breath to see how many men take up extended paternity leave and request flexible working arrangements. We know that culture impacts take-up. In a society that still regards mums as a child’s primary carer, dads face an uphill struggle to ask for support to share care responsibilities in a way that mums don’t.

Leaders have a critical role to play setting the expectation that parents, irrespective of gender, will be encouraged and supported to manage parenting alongside work. Leaders can model that expectation, talk positively about men that live it, equip managers to support dads, and hold the organisation accountable for monitoring the career progress of parents. Together, these actions will create a culture that supports rather than undermines the organisation’s commitment to gender equity.

While shared parenting gains momentum, organisations need to normalise it by doubling down on efforts to promote their family-friendly credentials across all communication channels.

We know that many of our clients provide more support for working parents than appears on their website. For them this report is a call to action on the need to visibly promote equal parenting.

Download the Report