Parental Leave: A Kiwi Perspective

Employees rate parental leave as the most challenging moment in the employee experience lifecycle and the second least supported moment, with offboarding as the first (Source: Enboarder).

We (aka Rebekah Fraser, The Back To Work Coach, and Stephanie Pow, Founder of Crayon) see this play out in our professional journeys. 

We gathered insights from 369 Kiwi parents and distilled these into a collection of high-impact actions to help make the parental leave and return to work experience better for employers and parents.

Who’s this report for?

  • Employers seeking to create a supportive environment 

  • Parents navigating the intricacies of parental leave

What’s inside?

  • The top challenges facing parents during parental leave

  • The top 3 impactful actions employers can take to improve the experience of parental leave

  • The top 3 actions that would make the biggest difference to parents in the leadup to and during parental leave

  • The top challenges facing parents upon returning to work

  • The top 3 areas employers can address to improve the return to work experience

  • What parents say employers do well

  • Top tips from parents to other parents

  • 6 practical resources for parents and employers

About Us

The Back to Work Coach

Rebekah Fraser, MA (Psych), is an International Coach Federation (ICF) certified coach and the founder of The Back to Work Coach, an Auckland-based coaching practice specialising in supporting mums and dads to successfully navigate their transition back to work after becoming parents.

The Back to Work Coach offers 1-on-1 coaching, group coaching, and bespoke parent and family-focused workshops in support of new and established working parents.

Crayon

Crayon is the creator of The New Zealand Parental Leave Register, the Financial Baby Prep Program and a Parental Leave Toolkit.

Crayon was founded in 2022 by Stephanie Pow, a former investment banker who found herself financially unprepared for parenthood. Determined to improve this experience, Stephanie is building a better support system for parental leave in New Zealand.