The surprising connection between housework and fertility rates

Welcome to The Lead, Lean In’s newsletter connecting you with the latest news and insights to help you advance in your career and achieve your ambitions.?

This week, we’d love to hear directly from you: What strategies have you used to get the recognition you deserve at work? The more specific, the better! Email us at [email protected]—we’ll share your responses in our next newsletter.

OK, let’s dive right in.

The headlines are hard to miss: women around the world are having fewer children. There are many factors at play, including rising living costs and greater access to contraception. But why have fertility rates fallen faster in some countries than in others??

According to Claudia Goldin—a renowned economist and 2023 Nobel laureate—the answer has a lot to do with the division of housework. In countries where men contribute more at home, women tend to have more children. In places where men do less, the opposite is true.

One reason for this, Goldin argues, is that women often consider how much their partner will help with housework and caregiving before having kids. If they expect that their partner won’t contribute much, they may be less likely to have more children. And these expectations may loom especially large in a country like the United States, which offers virtually no caregiving supports like paid parental leave or subsidized childcare.

Goldin noticed this pattern while studying countries with “low” fertility rates—around 1.6 births per woman—such as France and Sweden. She compared them to the “lowest-low” countries, like Spain and Italy, where fertility rates are closer to 1.3 births per woman.

In the latter, women spend significantly more time on housework and caregiving than men. South Korea offers a striking example: it has the world’s lowest fertility rate at 0.72 births per woman, and women devote almost three more hours each day than men to domestic labor. By contrast, in Sweden and Denmark—where fertility rates are much higher—that chore gap is less than an hour.?

Yet even in countries with moderate fertility rates, the division of domestic labor is still far from equal. Women in the United States continue to spend almost two more hours daily on household work than men. And our most recent Women in the Workplace report shows that women in corporate America still do far more at home than men.

While the situation might seem grim, the good news is that closing this gender gap is possible. We already know what makes a difference, like providing affordable childcare and paid parental leave. These kinds of supportive measures can pave the way for greater equality at home and ensure that having kids doesn’t come at the expense of women’s careers.

— Priya Fielding-Singh

More benefits. More women in leadership and celebrity campaigns have sparked more open discussions about menopause—and employers are starting to take notice. According to a recent Mercer study, 18% of companies plan to offer menopause benefits in 2025, up from 15% in 2024. Healthcare companies have also begun providing menopause-related benefits, as research by the Mayo Clinic shows that menopause costs businesses $1.8 billion annually in lost work time. Fortune

After the ban. New research has revealed a rise in infant mortality alongside births in most states with abortion bans in the first year and a half since Roe v. Wade was overturned. The findings also showed the highest mortality occurred among infants who were Black, lived in Southern states, or had fetal birth defects. The New York Times

Not one. Even as viewership for women’s sports has soared, not a single woman was named to Sportico’s 2024 list of the 100 highest-paid athletes. U.S. tennis player Coco Gauff was the top-earning woman athlete last year with an estimated $30.4 million in income—still $7 million short of the list’s No. 100, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Daniel Jones. Tennis champion Naomi Osaka was the last woman to make the list, in 2022. NBC News

A unique harm. New research suggests that when Black women have a higher percentage of white coworkers, it’s harder for them to advance. Scholars at the Harvard Kennedy School found that when Black women started their careers working with a greater percentage of white colleagues, they were more likely to leave their jobs and less likely to be promoted. Forbes

Sign up now for one of Lean In’s events to celebrate International Women’s Day:?

?Connect, Commit, and #AccelerateAction with Lean In Circles

In celebration of International Women’s Day, we invite you to join women and supporters from around the globe to celebrate, connect, and experience the power of peer support and camaraderie with Lean In Circles. In this 60-minute virtual event, you’ll have the opportunity to meet new people, connect in small breakout groups, and learn about research-backed strategies to succeed. This session is tailored for women but beneficial to anyone who wants to learn and grow with others.

March 7

#AccelerateAction: 5 Strategies for Empowering Girls to Push Back Against Stereotypes and Limiting Beliefs

In this one-hour workshop, caregivers and educators are invited to an engaging conversation to explore the role they can play in empowering girls and young teens who identify with the girlhood experience to challenge stereotypes and limiting beliefs and embrace their full potential.

March 5

#AccelerateAction: Challenge Stereotypes with Lean In Girls (Ages 11–15)

In this one-hour workshop, girls will learn to spot and push back against limiting stereotypes—even the ones that might appear to be positive at first glance. They’ll start by identifying what stereotypes are before exploring commonly held assumptions about girls. ?Finally, they’ll practice strategies for pushing back against stereotypes and saying “no” to limiting beliefs.?

March 11

Open Circle Meeting Tailored for Black Women (60 minutes) Lean In Circles bring small peer groups together for ongoing skill building, camaraderie, and support. In this online version of a Circle meeting, our goal is to create a space where Black women can connect to talk about their distinct experiences at work. During the 60-minute session, you’ll meet other Black women from around the globe, participate in “connection” activities in breakout groups, and (we hope!) get inspired to start your own Circle.

February 28

50 Ways to Fight Bias Workshop for Everyone: Spotlight on Black Women (60 minutes)

To mark Black History Month, join us for a Zoom session designed to help you recognize and interrupt the biases that Black women often experience at work. We’ll introduce you to 12 specific examples of bias and share practical recommendations for what you can say and do in the moment. Anyone can benefit from this session because we all fall into bias traps like these.

February 27

Circle Leader Training (60 minutes)?

This virtual training will explain how to get your Circle started, from deciding on your Circle’s purpose and recruiting members right up to hosting your first meeting.

March 10? March 11 ??March 12

Lean In Girls Online Sessions (60 minutes)?

Sign up your girl for one of our upcoming online sessions—Lean Into Your Leadership Strengths or Challenge Stereotypes. In these free one-hour workshops, girls will explore ways they are already leading, identify their unique strengths, and learn to recognize and push back on limiting stereotypes.??

March 26 ? April 17

Dear Lean In,

I’ve been with my company for three years. I’ve met or exceeded expectations in every performance review, yet I’ve never had a pay increase. When I finally worked up the courage to ask for a raise, my boss simply said “no.” Now I’m struggling to feel that my hard work is recognized. I’m also unsure whether I should keep pushing for better pay. How can I approach future negotiations more effectively?

—Ready for a Raise

Dear Ready,

Failed pay negotiations are unfortunately common. And readers of this newsletter won’t be surprised to learn that they’re more common for women than men. There are two reasons for this: First, women can experience backlash when they ask for more because they are incorrectly seen as being “out for themselves.” Second, women’s accomplishments are overlooked more often than men’s—which can lead to them being undervalued, and to comments like your boss’s.

The secret to any negotiation, regardless of gender, is prepare, prepare, prepare. Here are three ways to do that and increase your odds of getting the pay you deserve:

1. Get ready to showcase your accomplishments: Keep an ongoing written record of your achievements throughout the year, along with positive feedback from clients and colleagues, and plan to share it with your boss. If your company has formal requirements for promotions, document how you’re meeting or exceeding them. And practice exactly what you want to say. Research shows that a lot of people skip this last step—but rehearsing how you’ll deliver your pitch is really important.
2. Show your communal spirit: Because women are expected to be giving and community-oriented, we often get a better response when we use language like “we” and “our team” instead of “I.” As well as explaining why your skills merit a promotion, anchor your case to your boss’s priorities and company goals. For example, explain how your contributions have driven better metrics or improved team performance.?
3. Plan how to bounce forward from a “no”: Make sure to ask what it would take to get to “yes” in the next six to twelve months. If you get a noncommittal response, like “we’ll see,” ask for more specifics. Remember that you’re asking for something you have earned, and that you deserve to be fully recognized and rewarded for your contributions.?

Good luck!

— Dr. Mary Noble-Tolla