No. CCXXX; March, 2020
THIS ISSUE’S HIGHLIGHTS

I. GLOBAL SUMMIT OF WOMEN CELEBRATES 30TH ANNIVERSARY
II. PARENTAL LEAVE: HOW LONG IS ENOUGH TIME?
III. EFFECT OF QUOTA FOR WOMEN BOARD DIRECTORS IN CALIFORNIA

CLICK TO HEAR AN INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY MESSAGE FROM GLOBAL SUMMIT OF WOMEN PRESIDENT IRENE NATIVIDAD

I. GLOBAL SUMMIT OF WOMEN CELEBRATES 30TH ANNIVERSARY

Attendees from over a dozen countries came together at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC on Friday, February 28 for a Gala Dinner to celebrate 30 years of the Global Summit of Women, a global business/economic forum for women.

An international Parade of Leaders opened with a salute to the Summit by sharing their experience of participating in this global forum over the years and how the Summit has impacted their careers, lives, and the lives of others.  “It was a powerful reminder of what the Summit means to its participants and what it has been able to do over the past 30 years,” said President Irene Natividad.

During her remarks at the event, Natividad emphasized the need for global alliances and the ability of women to see the importance of it.  “The Summit is about coming together across borders, which is more important now than at any other time,” she said.  “Doors are being shut as the result of trade wars or conflict or virus.  In order for us to address the problems of the times, we as women need to be able to work together, and, through the Summit, women are able to reach across borders and understand the importance of it.”  

To see a glimpse into the event, click the image below for a short video.

Special Notice:  GLOBAL SUMMIT OF WOMEN 2020 IN BANGKOK, THAILAND

The 30^th GSW anniversary Gala in Washington, DC was a prelude to the 2020 Global Summit of Women which has been rescheduled for October 8-10, 2020 in Bangkok, Thailand.  

To see who will be joining the 2020 Summit in Bangkok and to register now to be a part of the 30^th Anniversary Summit, click here. 

II. PARENTAL LEAVE: HOW LONG IS ENOUGH TIME?

As companies and countries institute policies enabling paid parental and family leave benefits, are they asking themselves: How long is enough time or how long is too long?  This question was discussed at the 2020 Colloquium on Global Diversity, which was held in Washington, DC from February 27-28^th.  At this session on parental leave, two U.S. companies with best practice parental leave benefits were juxtaposed against two European countries’ mandated leave policies.

With the U.S. standing alongside Papua New Guinea as the only countries in the world without a federal paid maternity leave policy, many large U.S. companies have engaged in a type of parental leave arms race to attract and retain young employees. Among the companies with longer paid leave programs, Dow Jones offers up to 20 weeks paid parental leave and Deloitte provides 16 weeks of paid family leave which can be used to cover a broad range of life events beyond the birth or adoption of a child, such as caring for an ailing parent or sibling.

Since implementing its policy in 2016, Deloitte has found that women increased the duration of their leave, while participation of male employees also increased, although the duration was not yet at the level of women.  This increased usage resulted in lessening employee turnover, which was the goal of the program overall.

Juxtaposed with the policies of U.S. corporations are the benefits in place at the federal level throughout Europe. Among the 28 European Union countries, the average length of maternal and paternal leave combined is 98 weeks.  This may sound attractive to U.S. workers, but what are the consequences of such lengthy parental leave policies?  

In Germany:

• 66% of mothers tend to shift to part-time work after child birth, while only 5.8% of fathers do so.  Part-time jobs are perceived as “career-killers” by the majority of employees;
• Women who take more than one year of parental leave earn on average 10% less per hour than women who did not take time off for parental leave;
• Motherhood is still seen as an expression of a lack of career ambition; and
• The longer women are away or work part-time, the more difficult it is to catch up with career ambitions due to decreased visibility, shrinking networks, tech innovations and organizational changes.

Meanwhile, Poland, has the highest length of combined maternal and paternal leave at an average of four years (of which 71 weeks are paid), while offering an additional monthly stipend per child for families.  As in Germany, these generous family benefits have had a negative effect on women in the labor market as well as on the nation’s economy.

First, fewer women with children re-entered the workforce as a result of the subsidies. Secondly, the long gap made it difficult for women who wished to re-enter the labor market.  For those able to do so, remuneration tended to be lower.  Finally, the shortened career and lesser wages result in a lower pension.

To see more about the 2020 Colloquium, please go to www.globewomen.org/globaldiversity.

III. EFFECT OF QUOTA FOR WOMEN BOARD DIRECTORS IN CALIFORNIA

The California bill mandating gender diversity on boards of public companies headquartered in California required at least one woman director by the end of 2019, as the first step in accelerating women’s board appointments.  According to a new report by KPMG, 96% of the companies in the state complied with the requirement. Since only 71% of companies had at least one woman director when the bill was signed in September 2018, the law speeded up the pace of more women-held board seats.

The next deadline for companies to continue to abide by the law’s requirements mandates that by the end of 2021, companies with six or more board members must have at least three women directors; companies with five total members must have at least two women and companies with four or fewer members must have at least one woman director.

At the time of the passage of the law, a number of concerns were raised by opponents of the bill warning against unintended consequences of the law, for instance, whether companies would add “underqualified” women to serve on boards or whether a small number of women would fill a large number of slots.  The KPMG study examined the qualifications of the women who joined a board in 2019 and found these concerns unjustified.  73% of women added to boards in 2019 were often in C-suite roles and 76% have an advanced degree. 

The report also found that 62% were first-time board directors, suggesting that the law broadened the candidate pool for public companies in the state.  Lastly, the great majority of directors would not be considered “overboarded” with 69% holding only one board seat, while 88% hold no more than two board roles. (Source: The Women Changing California Boardrooms, KPMG, March 2020)

30^th Anniversary Memories of the
Global Summit of Women

As part of the Global Summit of Women’s 30^th Anniversary in 2020, past participants have an opportunity to share their memories of the Summit and what the Summit means to them.  Throughout the year, the Summit will be collecting photos and testimonials from the thousands of women who have joined in this global gathering over the past 30 years.  

To share your Summit experiences with others, please click here

Registration is now Open!

2020 Global Summit of Women

Bangkok, Thailand

October 8-10, 2020

www.globewomen.org/globalsummit

Thai delegates to 2019 Global Summit of Women in Basel, Switzerland invite you to 2020 Summit in Bangkok.

2020 GLOBAL SUMMIT OF WOMEN
BANGKOK, THAILAND
October 8-10, 2O20

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