Benefits May 6, 2004

Gen Y Women Will Be Back in the Office After Childbirth

May 6, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The next generation of female executives overwhelmingly plan on returning to the workforce after having children and most agree changes will need to be made with how companies handle work-life balance issues.
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Nine out of 10 female members of Generation Y say after having children they plan on returning to the workforce, according to research done by Silver Stork andmarket research publisher Packaged Facts. Work though will not dominate the home life, as 90% of the women of Generation Y – for the purposes of this study those currently between the ages of 17 and 28 – said they would take apay cut in order to spend more time with their children.

“Young women today are masters at ‘balance’ and they plan to continue this through motherhood” says Silver Stork Founder Marta Loeb. “Given what she is telling us about her future plans we anticipate employers of this very large segment – larger than Boomers – will need to rise to meet the needs of mothers to stay competitive and retain good employees.”

Going forward though, most (70%) of the respondents believe the workplace will need to change to meet the needs of women and mothers in the future. Topping the list of changes was flexible work schedule (75%) followed by extended maternity leaves (60%), parenting hours (59%) and onsite child care (49%).

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