Fatherhood Factor: The Hartford Survey Finds Half Of Gen Y Dads Take Time Off After Baby

Millennial men (18-33) are leading the paternity leave trend, with 52 percent taking extended time off from work to help care for a baby, according to a national survey¹ from The Hartford.

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While this generation of 80 million is known for putting off parenthood, increasingly more Millennials are entering this new life stage. Currently, about 10.8 million Gen Y households have children.²

“Millennial men are approaching parenthood differently than previous generations, which means employers should factor in fathers when they build benefit plans and work-life policies,” said The Hartford’s Millennial Workplace Expert Lindsey Pollak. “Meeting the needs of this next generation of parents will be critical for businesses as we countdown to 2020 – the year when Millennials are expected to be 50 percent of the U.S. workforce.”

In The Hartford’s 2015 Millennial Parenthood Survey, 31 percent of Millennial dads said both parents took more than two weeks off after a baby and 21 percent said they were the only parent who took time off. In addition, an analysis of The Hartford’s claims data showed that caring for a newborn was the No. 1 reason for Millennial men to be on a non-disability leave of absence.³

Parenthood impacted the careers of both women (75 percent) and men (53 percent), according to The Hartford’s survey. Millennial dads said the top impacts were a reduction in their hours (16 percent), moving to a job with a higher salary (15 percent), and a slowdown of their career (12 percent). Millennial moms said the top impacts were changing to a job with more flexibility (25 percent), reducing their hours (22 percent), and experiencing a slowdown in their career (18 percent).

Mother’s Little Helper (And Dad’s Too)

Millennials in the national survey said employers should offer these benefits to help employees be responsible parents:

• Flexibility in time-off options – 97 percent;
• Flexibility in work hours – 97 percent;
• Disability insurance – 96 percent; and
• Life insurance – 92 percent.

In fact, Millennial men were more likely than women to feel that employers must offer disability, life, and critical illness insurance in their benefits package.

“This new research supports our focus of offering benefits that enable employers to attract and retain employees, while helping consumers protect their family finances,” said Laura Marzi, vice president in The Hartford's Group Benefits business. “Also, we see there’s still a need for educational programs, such as our campaign with Lindsey Pollak, to help employees understand how benefits can help them stay on track with their professional and personal goals.”

Pollak, the author of the New York Times best-seller “Becoming the Boss: New Rules for the Next Generation of Leaders,” has partnered with The Hartford for nearly three years on a national awareness campaign to help Millennials understand their benefits and employers understand their Gen Y employees. More information can be found at www.thehartford.com\tomorrow.

About The Hartford

With more than 200 years of expertise, The Hartford (NYSE: HIG) is a leader in property and casualty insurance, group benefits and mutual funds. The company is widely recognized for its service excellence, sustainability practices, trust and integrity. More information on the company and its financial performance is available at www.thehartford.com. Join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheHartford. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TheHartford.

The Hartford^® is The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries, including issuing companies, Hartford Life Insurance Company, and Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company. Its headquarters is in Hartford, Conn.

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^{1. The Hartford's 2015 Millennial Parenthood Survey is a national omnibus survey conducted weekly among a sample of 1,000 U.S. consumers, ages 18-33, who were either self-employed or employed full or part time. Interviewing was conducted on behalf of The Hartford using ORC International’s Generational Millennial CARAVAN® Omnibus in April 2015.}

^{2. http://www.millennialmarketing.com/2013/07/new-research-the-millennial-generation-becomes-parents/}

^{3. The analysis of leave of absence data was 54,000 leaves of absences among 110,000 employees of 10 national companies with The Hartford’s absence management service from 2012-2014.}

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