Previously we discussed lack of confidence as one of the causes that Sandberg cites for the lack of women in leadership roles. Another reason she gives is pregnancy and childrearing. It's not just that women leave the workforce when they give birth, it's also that they factor pregnancy and childrearing into decisions about whether or not to take on bigger roles and more responsibilities -- "they leave before they leave," Sandberg says. (Sandberg, 2013, p. 93)
Sandberg encourages women to take the opposite approach. If they are interested in achieving more, she encourages them to pursue bigger roles and more responsibility. "The months and years leading up to having children are not the time to lean back, but the critical time to lean in." (Sandberg, 2013, p. 95)
According to Sandberg, "forty-three percent of highly qualified women with children are leaving careers, or 'off-ramping' for a period of time." (Sandberg, 2013, p. 98)
What's more, "only 74 percent of professional women will rejoin the workforce in any capacity, and only 40 percent will return to full-time jobs..." (Sandberg, 2013, p. 102)
That's a significant percentage of "highly qualified" individuals leaving the workforce. This loss of good people impacts the companies and organizations where they work, but it has an even greater impact on the lifetime earnings of those women. Obviously those who never return face the greatest impact to their earnings, but even for those who return, "controlling for education and hours worked, women's average annual earnings decrease by 20 percent if they are out of the workforce for just one year. Average annual earnings decline by 30 percent after two to three years." (Sandberg, 2013, p. 102) Factor in compounding over a lifetime and the financial impacts are highly consequential.
I mentioned previously that I'm the father of daughters. My wife and I did the "back of the envelope" math and calculated that having her quit her job to stay home with our children was more cost effective than having her work and paying for full-time childcare. Except we didn't factor in the loss of future earnings. In fact, I was never even aware of this oversight until I read "... professional women need to measure the cost of child care against their future salary rather than their current salary." (Sandberg, 2013, p. 102)
I love this insight by Sandberg. Impact on future earnings is just the kind of thing an excellent business leader would factor in when making a decision to leave the workforce, even if temporarily, for an extended amount of time following childbirth.
We believe there are benefits to having a parent deeply involved in the day-to-day childrearing, but Sandberg provides evidence that children raised by multiple caregivers fair just as well as those where their mother is the primary caregiver.
"In 2006, the researchers released a report summarizing their findings, which concluded that 'children who were cared for exclusively by their mothers did not develop differently than those who were also cared for by others.' They found no gap in cognitive skills, language competence, social competence, ability to build and maintain relationships or in the quality of the mother-child bond." (Sandberg, 2013, pp. 135-136)
Further, "Some data even suggest that having two parents working outside the home can be advantageous to a child's development, particularly for girls." (Sanders, 2013, p. 136) And Sandberg tells us, "We all need to encourage men to lean in to their families." (Sandberg, 2013, p. 113) after all,
"children with involved and loving fathers have higher levels of psychological well-being and better cognitive abilities. When fathers provide even just routine child care, children have higher levels of educational and economic achievement and lower delinquency rates. Their children even tend to be more empathetic and socially competent. These findings hold true for children from all socioeconomic backgrounds, whether or not the mother is highly involved." (Sandberg, 2013, p. 113)
Ultimately it should be up to each individual to decide if they want to leave the workforce to raise children or if they want to go after that next promotion (or both), but individuals should be informed about the financial implications of those decisions and the equation isn't just about the present day cost of childcare.
Now I'll leave you with some related words from Beyoncé from her song Flawless, enjoy the video.
I took some time to live my life But don't think I'm just his little wife Don't get it twisted, get it twisted This my shit, bow down, bitches
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