This week on the podcast I am speaking with Georgie Dent, journalist, editor, speaker, and prominent advocate for parents, families, and women. The former lawyer is the Executive Director of The Parenthood, an independent for-purpose advocacy organisation that represents over 72,000 parents, carers and allies around Australia.
In Australia, we have an incredible education system and for over two decades women have been graduating from university in slightly higher numbers than men. Australia is the number one country in the world for female educational attainment. As Georgie explains, we don’t have a skills shortage because when a baby comes into the picture, women are retreating from the workforce as earning less and less money. Whilst fathers often get the ‘dad bonus’ to work and earn more than ever before and this gap only increases over time. As we discuss in this episode, even though couples may approach family life as equals and they want to share the care, the world they live in doesn’t support that. Australia is ranked 70th in the world for female workforce participation, and this is falling each year.
During this episode we talk about:
- The motherhood penalty and the impacts on women
- Systematic changes needed to support female workforce participation
- Discrimination women experience when they announce they are pregnant
- Government policies and attitudes that contribute to women stepping back from the workforce
- Benefits to fathers being actively engaged in caring for their children
- Positive economic impacts of women working
- Importance and positive impacts of good paid parental leave and early childhood education systems and policies
- International examples with supportive policies to support working parents
- How businesses can be the voice of change to support employees
As Georgie mentions “It’s only when parents are supported can children thrive”.
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Connect with Georgie Dent & The Parenthood
* Instagram: @theparenthood
* Website: theparenthood.org.au
Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast app.
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