Hulu, along with a substantial number of other corporations, is scaling back its parental leave policy. This move comes as Disney, its parent company, is instituting a policy that would cover travel costs for employees traveling to other states to obtain abortions.
After the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, major corporations began implementing similar policies as states began passing legislation restricting abortion. These moves received criticism from folks on the left and the right, who pointed out that these companies are motivated by a desire to have fewer employees taking time off to have families.
The Wall Street Journal reported:
New data show that the share of employers offering paid maternity leave beyond what is required by law dropped to 35% this year, down from 53% in 2020, according to the Society for Human Resource Management, a trade association for HR professionals that surveyed 3,000 employers. Companies including Hulu and some small to midsize firms are trimming weeks off their benefits for new parents as some employers confront inflation, anticipate a recession and try to re-establish prepandemic norms.
Companies also downsized paternity-leave programs. The share of employers giving paid paternity time off fell to 27% in 2022, from 44% in 2020, the SHRM survey found.
WSJ indicated that “[t]he declines might stem from companies changing their leave policies back to what they were in 2019 after extending more parental benefits to workers during the pandemic, according to SHRM.”
Scaling back parental leave benefits creates a situation in which families are required to begin paying for child care sooner. This is one of the largest expenses that families deal with.
But whether they intend to or not, these companies are steering employees toward abortion. Companies like Netflix, Comcast, Amazon, Bank of America, and many others are subsidizing travel for employees who wish to obtain the procedure.
These moves could result in more calls from the left to pass legislation requiring companies to provide comprehensive paid family leave benefits. Jezebel, a far left-wing news site, published an op-ed pointing out that “Since there is no federal law requiring paid family leave (thanks, Joe Manchin!), what people get is up to the laws of the state where they live, or their employer (if they work full-time and qualify for benefits). Otherwise, any leave new parents take is unpaid.”
This is yet another development resulting from the Supreme Court’s decision on Dobbs. Companies are increasingly bowing to pressure from the hard left to get more involved in politics. Abortion is one of those issues that many companies have not commented on publicly. However, the fact that they are offering to pay travel expenses for abortions is a way to take advantage of the nation’s politics to keep in the good graces of the far left while also maintaining their bottom line.
This trend could possibly result in more siloing of companies when it comes to politics. At least one company based in Texas is actually offering incentives for employees who choose to have families rather than aborting their children. There could be more to follow as America becomes more polarized on the abortion issue.
The rise of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) movement is another significant factor in this equation. Its proponents are convincing, cajoling, and coercing companies to adhere to the tenets of wokeism under the guise of promoting more corporate involvement in their communities. Abortion, along with a slew of far leftist causes could become even more prevalent in corporate America. The result will likely be companies catering to an audience that shares their political beliefs rather than focusing on maximizing profit.
