Shared loan high on women’s wish lists
Women in capital markets say an important breakthrough would come if the burden of household and family responsibilities was more equitably shared. Attitudes to flexible working may have been changed by the pandemic, but women want to see the gains maintained.
MCCULLAGH The thing I would change in this area, where I think companies can play a strong leadership role, is to support the equal sharing of family and household responsibilities including, of course, childcare.
Until this happens and men are willing to step back from their job for a period to participate in child-rearing, the imbalance will continue.
I would like to encourage innovative thinking along the lines of what occurs in Scandinavia, where companies grant blocks of leave. It is not compulsory but it offers the opportunity to take time out to be with their families, whatever their gender.
Because there is hired help at home, there is little to no conversation about flexibility in an Asian office. Part-time jobs don’t exist. Parental leave is much shorter compared with other Western countries. There is no such thing as being a hands-on mum and a career woman at the same time.
RAMOS Our Women in Leadership workstream has discussed the differences between supporting women here in Australia and in Asia, where there are considerably more women in finance because they have more help at home. The hired help manages the home life and the parents go out and work.
This isn’t necessarily something we would ask to see replicated in Australia. But the reality is the cost of childcare as well as the skew to the female absorbing parental responsibilities are holding back change.
It has taken a pandemic to get here but we have finally proved we can get the job done to the same standard even if we are not in the office. It also gives us a level of flexibility that was difficult previously – I can be at home today running a deal but if it wraps up early I can still deliver something to a relative who lives alone.
This has completely changed the landscape, at least within markets, on how people operate and how to achieve a better balance. We all have a home life – no matter what the situation is – and companies are starting to understand it is not possible to segregate work from home life completely. They cannot be kept in silos. They are integrated.
I very much hope this stays with us going forward, because it may help with many of the issues we have discussed today.
FAN As Suzy Ramos mentioned, we have paid help in Asia and more female leaders, particularly at ANZ in China. Hats off to the Australian working mothers – I don’t know how they do what they do without paid help at home.
However, one problem I see is that females get a choice of whether to stay at home or return to work in a way that makes them choose one or the other. Because there is hired help at home, there is little to no conversation about flexibility in an Asian office. Part-time jobs don’t exist. Parental leave is much shorter compared with other Western countries. There is no such thing as being a hands-on mum and a career woman at the same time.
The challenge becomes how to promote the whole-person female role in this environment. Women and men play different roles. But this is a global phenomenon. The burden on the woman to run the family still exists, whether or not they have full-time help.
COVID-19 may help. It has enabled many people to work from home. In international banks, flexibility is improved but it is still lacking in local banks.
