France Supports Working Mothers - Building Gender Balanced Business

In a New York Times piece written as she’s about to leave her home in Paris to live in Britain, German-born Katrin Bennhold muses on the advantages (and a few of the disadvantages) of living in France. The 6-months-pregnant writer explains that France has a social infrastructure that is particularly supportive of working mothers, offering benefits such as:

• 100% state-covered maternity-related health care from 6 months pregnant onward
• Paid 4-month maternity leave
• Personal training to help women get back in shape post-birth
• Free preschools starting at age 3
• Tax deductions for each child

Bennhold notes that in her native Germany, the situation is far different, with mothers often feeling pressure to give up a career entirely or partly (Germany has an unusually high number of women doing part-time work). In her new home of London, she is finding that the perks are not nearly as good as in Paris.

• As a working mother, her taxes are significantly higher in London than in Paris
• Child care is more expensive
• Private schools are far more expensive

There is a downside in France where women are concerned, though, and that is in a certain machismo that still prevails in the country. While men opening doors for you is not so bad, having them heap unwanted attention on your en masse just because you’re walking down the street in a skirt can be quite irritating.

• France ranked 46th in the 2010 gender equality report from the World Economic Forum, behind the U.S., most of Europe, Jamaica, and Kazakhstan
• On average, women in France earn 26% less than men while still doing 2/3 of the housework