• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
MPW

Etsy Is the Latest Company To Offer Gender-Neutral Parental Leave

Kristen Bellstrom
By
Kristen Bellstrom
Kristen Bellstrom
Down Arrow Button Icon
Kristen Bellstrom
By
Kristen Bellstrom
Kristen Bellstrom
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 15, 2016, 3:06 PM ET
Etsy IPO Opens On Nasdaq
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 16: General atmosphere as Etsy rings the Nasdaq Opening Bell in Celebration of IPO at Nasdaq on April 16, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images for NASDAQ)Photograph by Paul Zimmerman — Getty Images

Etsy wants to put an end to maternity leave.

Instead, the online marketplace is pushing parental leave—a policy that doesn’t discriminate between moms and dads. On Tuesday, the company announced a new policy that will provide 26 weeks of paid leave that employees can use within two years of becoming a parent, regardless of their gender.

“We want to support and enable parents, regardless of their gender, to play equal roles in building successful companies and nurturing their families,” writes Juliet Gorman, Etsy’s director of culture and engagement in a blog post. The post also notes that Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson took five weeks of paternity leave after he and his wife adopted their son nearly four years ago. That was the full extent of what Etsy offered fathers at the time.

The company also published a Medium post that lays out the value of gender-neutral policies. A few key takeaways:

So-called “traditional” family structures are receding. The percentage of two-parent, single-earner households has fallen from 45% in 1975 to around 20% today.

Giving dads leave has been proven to making parenting more equitable. In Iceland, where nearly 80% of fathers take leave, studies have shown that in some cohorts, 70% of their parents share care equally.

Paternity leave is good for moms’ health. Having a spouse who did not take any leave after childbirth is associated with higher levels of maternal depressive symptoms.

Sign up: Click here to subscribe to the Broadsheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the world’s most powerful women.

While Etsy should be commended for its new policy—and for stressing the importance of treating moms and dads equally, it is not the first company to offer gender-neutral leave. Indeed, Facebook, Netflix, Change.org, Reddit, Bank of America, and Patagonia are among the other employers that have gender-blind policies.

Of course, employees lucky enough to work at such companies are in the minority: Only 12% of U.S. private sector workers have access to any paid family leave through their employer.

About the Author
Kristen Bellstrom
By Kristen Bellstrom
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in MPW

Workplace CultureSports
Exclusive: Billionaire Michele Kang launches $25 million U.S. Soccer institute that promises to transform the future of women’s sports
By Emma HinchliffeDecember 2, 2025
8 days ago
C-SuiteLeadership Next
Ulta Beauty CEO Kecia Steelman says she has the best job ever: ‘My job is to help make people feel really good about themselves’
By Fortune EditorsNovember 5, 2025
1 month ago
ConferencesMPW Summit
Executives at DoorDash, Airbnb, Sephora and ServiceNow agree: leaders need to be agile—and be a ‘swan’ on the pond
By Preston ForeOctober 21, 2025
2 months ago
Jessica Wu, co-founder and CEO of Sola, at Fortune MPW 2025
MPW
Experts say the high failure rate in AI adoption isn’t a bug, but a feature: ‘Has anybody ever started to ride a bike on the first try?’
By Dave SmithOctober 21, 2025
2 months ago
Jamie Dimon with his hand up at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit
SuccessProductivity
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says if you check your email in meetings, he’ll tell you to close it: ’it’s disrespectful’
By Preston ForeOctober 17, 2025
2 months ago
Pam Catlett
ConferencesMPW Summit
This exec says resisting FOMO is a major challenge in the AI age: ‘Stay focused on the human being’
By Preston ForeOctober 16, 2025
2 months ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Economy
‘Fodder for a recession’: Top economist Mark Zandi warns about so many Americans ‘already living on the financial edge’ in a K-shaped economy 
By Eva RoytburgDecember 9, 2025
17 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
When David Ellison was 13, his billionaire father Larry bought him a plane. He competed in air shows before leaving it to become a Hollywood executive
By Dave SmithDecember 9, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Banking
Jamie Dimon taps Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell, and Ford CEO Jim Farley to advise JPMorgan's $1.5 trillion national security initiative
By Nino PaoliDecember 9, 2025
18 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Uncategorized
Transforming customer support through intelligent AI operations
By Lauren ChomiukNovember 26, 2025
14 days ago
placeholder alt text
Real Estate
The 'Great Housing Reset' is coming: Income growth will outpace home-price growth in 2026, Redfin forecasts
By Nino PaoliDecember 6, 2025
4 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Even the man behind ChatGPT, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, is worried about the ‘rate of change that’s happening in the world right now’ thanks to AI
By Preston ForeDecember 9, 2025
22 hours ago
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.