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Father’s Day is this coming Sunday, and as a result, paternity leave is on our brains here at ForbesWomen. New fathers are increasingly taking parental leave after the birth of a first child thanks to (slowly) improving corporate and/or state policies on the matter, and increased awareness around the importance of parental leave is helping to normalize the practice—for all parents, regardless of gender or birthing status.
As Mika Brzezinski, Huma Abedin and I discussed during a segment on paternity leave for Morning Joe this week, more men taking parental leave can help lower the “motherhood penalty” that can affect women’s careers and pay. There’s also evidence that when men return to work after paternity leave, they show greater empathy for working moms, report less sexist beliefs and become better advocates for work/family policies.
“When men take paternity leave, it demonstrates that all workers—not just women—can have caregiving responsibilities,” sociologist and family demographer Richard J. Petts recently told Forbes contributor Michelle Travis.
Cheers to that!
Maggie McGrath
P.S.: This coming Sunday will also bring the 77th annual Tony Awards, and you better believe your trusty newsletter writer will be tuning in to see if her two favorite shows this season—the spectacular dance-focused Illinoise and the women’s-rights-focused Suffs—get their due. I’ll also be watching for Hell’s Kitchen actress Kecia Lewis, who this year has been nominated for her first Tony after working on Broadway stages for the last four decades.
Featured Forbes News: Latinas Hold Just 1% Of C-Suite Jobs—Despite Wanting Promotions More Than Any Group
getty images
Just 1% of C-suite executives are Latinas, while 27.4% of those roles are held by women overall. These statistics come courtesy of a new report from LeanIn, the non-profit organization founded by former Meta executive Sheryl Sandberg. Among the report’s other concerning findings: Latinas face a persistent pay gap that leads to $1.2 million in average missed earnings over a lifetime; encounter more microaggressions, such as assumptions about their immigration status or language abilities; and face stereotypes about their commitment to work. “Latinas often seen as more family-focused and less career-focused than other groups of women,” says LeanIn CEO Rachel Thomas.
ICYMI: News Of The Week
CINDY JOHNSON, COURTESY OF CHRISTINA LEWIS
Christina Lewis, whose late father Reginald Lewis achieved fame and fortune with a $985 million buyout of food conglomerate Beatrice International Foods in 1987, launched a multifamily office called Beatrice Advisors on Thursday to help families like hers. Beatrice will be the first business of its kind to be owned by a Black woman, and Lewis is bringing in industry veteran Meredith Bowen to be its president and chief investment officer.
Abortion drug mifepristone will not have its government approvals rolled back, as the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of the government Thursday in a case that sought to further restrict medication abortion—declining to further roll back abortion rights two years after the high court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Taylor Swift and Beyonce are now worth a combined $2 billion. This past year has been phenomenal for both superstars, with hugely popular tours, super successful movies based on those tours and new albums to boot. Those factors lifted their net worths and raised their ranks on Forbes’ recently released list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women.
Actress Busy Philipps has become an advisor and equity owner of lower-sugar candy company Behave, alongside founder Mayssa Chehata. The deal marks Phillips’ first-ever equity investment in a startup, though she and a Behave spokesperson declined to disclose her percentage stake.
The long-simmering debate over whether remote work hurts productivity or dampens worker performance has reached the peak of academic prestige: A study in the academic journal Nature. A randomized controlled trial published in the journal finds two days of working from home improved job satisfaction and reduced turnover when compared to those working in offices five days a week.
The Checklist
1. Listen to the white noise. The phrase “cut through the white noise” is considered sound advice in business—focusing only on the important things and drowning out the excess chatter. But what if the white noise is the key to your success, especially in the developing or pivoting stages?
2. Think twice before multitasking CEO roles. There aren’t many examples of people who have successfully run two companies at once. Here’s what you should know before you say yes to a second CEO gig.
3. Consider offering dating services as an employee benefit. As rates of singledom and loneliness tick ever upward, would it be rad or radical for HR departments to start offering discounts and perks that help employees access dating help? Argues Forbes contributor Soulaima Gourani, “Incorporating dating services as a company perk is not just about matchmaking… It’s about recognizing that employees are multifaceted individuals whose personal happiness directly impacts their professional performance.”
The Quiz
The Southern Baptist Convention surprised many when it voted down a controversial ban on women pastors this week, allowing women to continue leading Baptist churches. That same group of church leaders, however, later voted in opposition of what?
- Pastors who identify as LGBTQ+
- In vitro fertilization
- Oral contraceptives
- Gender-affirming care for church employees
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