Private equity firms continue to trail their City peers on supporting female staff suffering a miscarriage or facing fertility issues.
Just 7% of private equity and venture capital firms have a written miscarriage policy, according to an analysis of 119 companies by gender diversity non-profit Level20 shared with Financial News.
Twenty-nine percent of 85 respondents headquartered in the UK, Europe and the US said they offered support or leave for staff who suffer pregnancy loss before 24 weeks as part of their maternity leave package.
The findings come as banks, asset managers and law firms up paid leave to UK staff and their partners who have suffered a miscarriage following calls to change the law.
FN revealed in 2022 that many top employers in the Square Mile were introducing schemes on top of existing bereavement and compassionate leave to cover employees affected by miscarriage.
Schroders and KPMG allow workers, including couples who use surrogates, up to two weeks’ paid leave to grieve early pregnancy loss, while Deloitte and Fidelity International have updated their compassionate leave policies with specific entitlements for miscarriage.
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An estimated one in five pregnancies ends in miscarriage, according to statistics from pregnancy and baby-loss charity Tommy’s. But employers are only obligated to provide time off to staff who experience stillbirth or pregnancy loss after 24 weeks.
Scottish National Party MP Angela Crawley tabled a bill in July 2022 to grant three days of statutory leave to grieving parents who suffer a miscarriage, but its second reading has been delayed multiple times.
The UK government said in February it would issue certificates for parents who had gone through the traumatic experience of losing their baby prematurely.
The certificates do not carry any legal weight, such as entitlement to time off work. But ministers said they would help bereaved parents “feel supported through their grief and recognise their loss”.
The pressures of private equity
Level20 noted in its report that women working in private equity regularly report opting to have children later as a result of the industry’s punishing work schedule. That means they are more likely to be impacted by miscarriage.
Firms that provide training, time off and inclusive communications could help close the gap in support and be looked at more “favourably” by female jobseekers, the non-profit said.
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Private equity giants have garnered a reputation for being worse than their peers in the wider finance industry on pushing for diversity and inclusion.
Women made up just 10% of senior investment professionals in private equity across Europe in 2022. On average 38% of firms in the region still featured all-male investment teams.
But the latest snapshot of the sector shows firms have begun to step up their efforts by rolling out enhanced leave for employees who want to start a family in a bid to attract and retain higher numbers of women.
Level20 found most firms — 84% — are currently reviewing or have recently reviewed their guidelines around parental leave. Only 11% of firms polled said they had not established a maternity leave policy.
One respondent said: “[I] strongly believe [family leave] will be a bigger focus going forwards because of a strong female cohort in the market coming through now who will look to have families at some point in the near future.”
However, the report shows firms are failing to address other family planning needs, with only 11% providing formal guidelines around fertility issues and 12% around surrogacy.
Nearly one fifth of private equity firms do not provide details on family leave policies without them being requested. There is also a “wide variation” in the amount of paid time off that women and men are granted for parental leave depending on where they are located and the size of their employer.
One respondent to the survey said: “[We are] currently rewriting policies after expanding… policies were trailing the market. Enhanced maternity leave was extended [and] paternity leave is now enhanced. [The] policy has improved but I believe we are still behind.”
Stepping up
Private equity firms are offering 26 weeks of fully paid maternity leave on average, and four weeks off for paternity leave.
But firms are increasingly looking to equalise leave for mothers and fathers, Level20 said in its report, mirroring a wider trend seen across the City.
NatWest has one of the most generous paternity leave packages, allowing male bankers to take a full year off when they become a father, with six months on full pay. Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan extended paternity leave to 16 weeks for UK staff in 2023.
Standard Chartered and law firm Clyde & Co are among City firms that have gone a step further and introduced equal paid leave to parents irrespective of gender.
Corrections and amplifications: An earlier version of this article stated that 78% of private equity firms do not provide details on family leave policies without them being requested. This has been amended.
To contact the author of this story with feedback or news, email Kristen McGachey