With Fathers’ Day just around the corner, it’s good to see men are stepping up. Millennial men (18-33) are leading the paternity leave trend, with 52 percent taking extended time off from work to help care for a baby, according to a national survey from The Hartford.
While this generation of 80 million is known for putting off parenthood, increasingly more Millennials are entering this new life stage. Currently, about 10.8 million Gen Y households have children.2
“Millennial men are approaching parenthood differently than previous generations, which means employers should factor in fathers when they build benefit plans and work-life policies,” said The Hartford’s Millennial Workplace Expert Lindsey Pollak. “Meeting the needs of this next generation of parents will be critical for businesses as we countdown to 2020 – the year when Millennials are expected to be 50 percent of the U.S. workforce.”
In The Hartford’s 2015 Millennial Parenthood Survey, 31 percent of Millennial dads said both parents took more than two weeks off after a baby and 21 percent said they were the only parent who took time off. In addition, an analysis of The Hartford’s claims data showed that caring for a newborn was the No. 1 reason for Millennial men to be on a non-disability leave of absence.3
Parenthood impacted the careers of both women (75 percent) and men (53 percent), according to The Hartford’s survey. Millennial dads said the top impacts were a reduction in their hours (16 percent), moving to a job with a higher salary (15 percent), and a slowdown of their career (12 percent). Millennial moms said the top impacts were changing to a job with more flexibility (25 percent), reducing their hours (22 percent), and experiencing a slowdown in their career (18 percent).
Mother’s Little Helper (And Dad’s Too)
Millennials in the national survey said employers should offer these benefits to help employees be responsible parents:
- Flexibility in time-off options – 97 percent;
- Flexibility in work hours – 97 percent;
- Disability insurance – 96 percent; and
- Life insurance – 92 percent.
In fact, Millennial men were more likely than women to feel that employers must offer disability, life, and critical illness insurance in their benefits package.
“This new research supports our focus of offering benefits that enable employers to attract and retain employees, while helping consumers protect their family finances,” said Laura Marzi, vice president in The Hartford’s Group Benefits business. “Also, we see there’s still a need for educational programs, such as our campaign with Lindsey Pollak, to help employees understand how benefits can help them stay on track with their professional and personal goals.”
Pollak, the author of the New York Times best-seller “Becoming the Boss: New Rules for the Next Generation of Leaders,” has partnered with The Hartford for nearly three years on a national awareness campaign to help Millennials understand their benefits and employers understand their Gen Y employees.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
