Shortsighted criticism of the cost and admin involved in maternity leave do not take account of the wider benefits to society, says John Oxley
There may be some businesses that bristle at the costs and admin of maternity leave. While the state essentially picks up the tab for statutory leave, this doesn’t stretch to the second-order costs or the lost value that comes from having an employee off work for several months. This is, however, a shortsighted approach for those companies and the broader economy, and it is one we should be doing our best to disavow.
Businesses do not exist in a vacuum; there is an essential interplay with the broader society. Supporting families to flourish is part of that. In terms of pure financial interests, maintaining the population is essential for future growth and the overall health of our economic interests, as well as the companies in that ecosystem. When we talk of things like corporate social responsibility, it should not exclude the most basic of social building blocks: the family. Supporting parents may feel like a cost, but it would better be to recognise it as an investment in society.
The left is often more comfortable talking about this and enforcing its views through regulation. There is a place for a right-wing view of the social benefits of business and the use of the tools of the market to facilitate it. If the right believes in things like the importance of family, it must reconcile that with the interests of business rather than seeing them as antagonists. Equally, it should be understood that being pro-business is not the same as insulating the commercial world from the costs of everything that has a social benefit.
The market for talent
Most people do not want to have to choose between working and having a family. Parents, especially mothers, enjoy having the security of maternity leave, which lets them care for children in the most essential stages without worrying about keeping their jobs. They also usually want to return to work and maintain their careers at some point. Businesses that facilitate that enthusiastically, rather than begrudgingly, are upholding a vital part of the social contract. More than that, they usually benefit from it themselves.
Rather than seeing maternity as a pure cost, it should be viewed as a way of incentivising the best workers. For the most capable and economically productive women I know, the maternity offering is a highly relevant concern when picking a job. The same is increasingly true of men and paternity policies. They want an employer they know will enable them to balance parenting and their career in the way they desire. The market, rather than regulation, is making this a competitive matter when securing the most productive talent. After all, over the course of a career, the cost of a few months’ break is probably a small one compared with the career-long contribution of the best performers.
More and more people are becoming aware not only of looming demographic challenges but also of the economic and social circumstances that mean people are having fewer children than they’d otherwise choose to
Issues around families and fertility are gaining salience in British politics. More and more people are becoming aware not only of looming demographic challenges but also of the economic and social circumstances that mean people are having fewer children than they’d otherwise choose to. Businesses that pursue a miserly and short-term view on this are likely to find themselves on the wrong side of the argument and of the market on this.
If we are to facilitate and encourage people to keep having more children, it takes a society that actively supports families. Businesses that rankle at the costs of maternity and paternity support are failing to do that. In doing so, they are ignoring the social contribution they can make, but also elements of their own self-interest. Allowing families to flourish benefits the future of the economy but also gives them an extra edge in a world that increasingly cares about it.
John Oxley is a political commentator and associate fellow at Bright Blue