Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Theresa May survives a no-confidence vote, women are gaining ground in the powerful House Financial Services Committee, and corporate America is facing a caregiving crisis. Have a terrific Thursday.
EVERYONE'S TALKING
• Caregiving crisis. While I doubt it will surprise you to hear that Corporate America is sometimes out of step with the reality experienced by its workforce, the scale of the particular disconnect identified by a new Harvard Business School study is legitimately stunning.
As reported in the Wall Street Journal, the researchers set out to explore how caregiving responsibilities impacted workers' ability to succeed in their jobs. The findings are stark. Nearly a third of employees say they've left a job because they couldn’t balance work and family duties. A whopping 80% said their home responsibilities stop them from doing their best at work.
Employers, meanwhile, could not be less clued in. Just 24% of those included in the study said caregiving was affecting their employees’ performance. The vast majority of companies said they had no data on their employees' caregiving responsibilities—either because they didn't see the need for such information or because they were worried about employee privacy.
Privacy is a valid concern, of course, but I can't help but suspect that some companies are using it as an excuse. After all, we already entrust our employers with a significant trove of our personal data (and they seem unfazed when it comes to gathering sensitive information on, say, our health). Employers who are worried about privacy issues could also make it optional for employees to provide details about their caregiving situations.
The study makes a good case for the value of such data. For instance, it might reveal unexpected trends in which workers are actually struggling with family responsibilities. An example: Even though the majority of the caregiving burden falls on women, more men than women told the researchers that they'd left a job because of family responsibilities. Having a better sense of what employees are facing at home could allow employers to offer benefits—such as eldercare or childcare subsidies—that would better meet their workers' needs.
In the spirit of data gathering, I'd love to hear what you think. Should employers collect information on workers' caregiving responsibilities—or does that cross a privacy line in the sand? Or, do you have other ideas about how employers can better respond to what the study calls a "caregiving crisis?" Send thoughts my way at kristen.bellstrom@fortune.com. Wall Street Journal
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
• She's alive! For now... A day after Parliament crushed her plan for Britain's exit from the EU 432 to 202, Theresa May narrowly survived a vote of no-confidence. The question now: Can the wounded PM possibly come up with a credible Brexit Plan B? New York Times
• Watch out, Wall Street. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Katie Porter, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, and Tulsi Gabbard all secured seats on the House Financial Services Committee overseeing Wall Street. Ocasio-Cortez says she's planning to work on the student loan crisis, public banking, and more. Maxine Waters will lead the powerful committee; she's the first woman and first African-American to do so. Fortune
• Sharing at Citi. Female employees at Citigroup earn 29% less than their male colleagues—much worse than overall 80-cents-on-the-dollar gender pay gap. The gap is notable because Citigroup took into account the money men receive by populating high-level positions compared to women's lower-level roles; often, companies only share their adjusted gender pay gap measuring salary difference between a man and a woman in the exact same position. Bloomberg
• Money for mamas. Every woman with kids under two years old who ran for Congress lost in the 2018 Midterms. One of those unsuccessful candidates, Democrat Liuba Grechen Shirley, is founding Vote Mama, the first political action committee devoted to supporting progressive mothers running for office. Fortune
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Carson Griffith will be editorial director of the new Gawker. Sapphire Ventures promoted Laura Thompson to principal. Jennifer Sheets is the new president and CEO of Interim Healthcare.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
• Slow ... and steady? A new study from the Alliance for Board Diversity found that women and minorities held 34% of Fortune 500 board seats in 2018, up from 30.8% in 2016. Progress is slow, failing to meet the Alliance's goal of 40% total representation for all underrepresented groups combined. New York Times
• Co-chairs speak out. With the third Women's March coming up this weekend, the movement's founders gave a long interview to Melissa Harris-Perry—covering their mission, their experiences as mothers, and more. They also discuss the controversy over allegations of anti-Semitism and the loss of sponsors like the DNC. "We also need to take seriously the pain expressed by some Jewish women. We must ask, how do we show up for one another without oppressing another person's community?" co-chair Carmen Perez says. Elle
• Verdict in Vermont. Kiah Morris—the sole black woman to serve in Vermont's House of Representatives—resigned after enduring two years of racial harassment, yet the white nationalist who harassed her won't face charges. He even showed up at a press conference where the state's attorney general said that the harassment didn't quite meet the bar for criminal charges. Washington Post
• No photos allowed. Taking "upskirt" photos will be a crime in England and Wales after legislation passed the House of Lords (it's already illegal in Scotland). Gina Martin led the campaign to make taking photographs up women's skirts a crime after it happened to her at a music festival over a year ago. BBC
Today's Broadsheet was produced by Emma Hinchliffe. Share it with a friend. Looking for previous Broadsheets? Click here.
ON MY RADAR
We're getting another Ghostbusters movie, but without the women Jezebel
Nancy Pelosi is winning The Atlantic
Louis C.K., R. Kelly, and the blurring of work Jezebel
The gender politics of fasting New York Times
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