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Despite progress, women, especially mothers, are still fighting hard to achieve equality in the workforce. According to a 2024 Bankrate analysis of Census Bureau data, mothers earn (on average) 31% less than fathers. Based on Bankrate’s calculations, this wage loss can add up to roughly half a million dollars over a woman’s 30-year career.

The financial and career impacts of motherhood are even more pronounced for women who choose not to come back to work after having a baby — or return only to later drop out. In Motherly’s 2024 State of Motherhood report (which surveyed nearly 6,000 mothers), a full 66% of moms said they were considering leaving the workforce due to the stress and cost of childcare.

Though women’s employment has recovered from the great “she-cession” of the pandemic, the gender gap in labor force participation remains significant, with 73.7 percent of mothers in the labor force compared to 94.9 percent of fathers, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

One way employers can help women gain ground — and help solve hiring and retention issues — is to tailor benefits to better fit their needs, priorities, and concerns. Companies that offer benefits packages that help address the gender gaps in financial wellness not only help women stay and advance in the workplace, but also promote a more equitable and productive workforce.

What Employers Can Do

HR pros have been working on evening gender disparity for decades, and much progress has been made. But the pandemic shed new light on the stubborn underlying inequities that continue to burden employers and female employees alike.

Employers may find that making adjustments and additions to their benefits packages can help promote more gender equity at work while also allowing them to attract and retain top female talent. Here are some strategies you may want to consider.

Recommended: Measuring the Financial Well-Being of Your Workforce

Rethink Maternity Leave

The more paid parental leave your firm can offer, generally the better. Some companies are expanding leave for birthing parents beyond 12 weeks, offering as much as 26 weeks. Others are providing additional weeks of paid leave to parents of newborns who spend time in the neonatal intensive care unit.

A generous paid parental leave program not only helps attract female workers but also increases the likelihood that your existing women employees will return to their jobs after having or adopting a child, as opposed to dropping out of the workforce —- and leaving you with a new opening to fill.

Another question to consider is whether your parental leave policies apply to all types of families and parents, such as non-birth mothers, foster parents, and parents who use surrogates. Parental benefits provide an opportunity for building your inclusive benefits strategy.

Create Real Opportunities for Advancement

For every 100 entry-level men promoted to management, only 81 women are promoted, according to McKinsey & Company’s Women in the Workforce 2024 report. With limited room for advancement and often undervalued work, many women are leaving their employers for better opportunities elsewhere.

One way to counter this trend is to offer female employees a path to advancement through education and up-skilling/re-skilling opportunities. You might do this by offering tuition assistance programs and/or access to free (or discounted) training and certification programs. This can help female employees get ahead in their careers, earn more and, in turn, achieve greater financial stability. It can also propel women into the roles of the future where they are currently underrepresented, like data science, software development, and engineering.

Other initiatives that can improve female career mobility include: formal mentorships, sponsorships, women’s employee resource groups (ERGs), leadership circles, and career coaching workshops. If your company offers these programs, you’ll want to make sure women employees know about and have easy access to them.

Address the Childcare Crisis

The pandemic brought childcare issues to the forefront as a significant workplace challenge. However, the high costs and limited availability of childcare existed before the pandemic and continue to create an impediment for women to fully participate in the workforce.

Employers can help address childcare challenges in several ways. On-site childcare is the most accommodating benefit. But on-site care is a big investment of infrastructure and resources that realistically only a small group of major employers can provide.

One alternative is to offer some type of emergency or backup child care support. Some companies do this by partnering with local daycare facilities and providing access to free or discounted childcare when a regular provider falls through. Other firms are offering employees stipends for online services, such as Care.com and SeekingSitters.com, that provide access to sitters at short notice.

Being open to and evaluating childcare support can be particularly important if you are mandating, or simply encouraging, employees to work onsite.

Consider Returnships

Many employers are dealing with labor shortages. At the same time, there is a large pool of untapped talent among women who have fully or partially left the workforce. Many of those women want to return to work but find the gaps in their resumes and lack of current skills are holding them back.

To address both problems at once, some companies are offering “returnships.” Pioneered by finance leaders Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, these are internship programs that give returning caregivers the opportunity to brush up their skills or learn new ones. Returnships typically run for a few months, offering training, experience, and networking opportunities to workers — often mothers — who’ve been out of the workforce for an extended period of time.

Returnship programs not only give women who dropped out of the workforce a viable onramp, they also give employers a way to vet talent before making an official hire.

Address Student Debt

Student loan debt impacts nearly 43 million Americans and a disproportionate number are female. According to EducationData.org, women hold 64% of all outstanding student debt and, despite making higher payments than men, take an average of two years longer to pay off their student loans. Women also owe more in graduate student loan debt than men, except in professional doctorate degrees.

Student debt can have a negative impact on any employee’s financial (and overall) well-being. And right now, borrowers are feeling particularly uneasy, thanks to unknowns surrounding potential changes to federal student loan repayment plans and forgiveness programs. What is certain, though, is that student loan repayment benefits continue to grow in popularity and effectiveness. And, they may be particularly beneficial to female employees.

HR leaders will also want to keep in mind that employers can offer up to $5,250 in tax-exempt student loan repayment benefits through 2025, thanks to the CARES Act of 2020. What’s more, the recent passage of the SECURE Act 2.0 allows companies to provide employees with a match on their retirement plans for making student loan payments starting in 2024. This can be a stand-alone offering, or part of a broader employee benefits program.

Offer Flexible, Women-Friendly Financial Wellness Benefits

In Bank of America’s 2024 Workplace Benefits Report, more than half (53%) of men reported good financial wellness, compared to just 36% of women. The study also found that women aren’t feeling as secure as men about the future: 58% of women said they were confident they will be able to build sufficient retirement savings, compared to 70% of men.

High levels of student debt, trouble making ends meet, and worries about saving enough (particularly with gaps in employment) all add a disproportionate amount of stress on women. Financial stress can impact every aspect of women’s lives, including productivity and happiness at work.

HR pros can make a huge impact on women employees by offering personalized, adaptive wellness benefits, such as debt management, emergency savings, tuition savings, retirement planning programs, and financial education. These benefits can help female employees plan and save for the future, feel less stressed about their finances, increase their focus and productivity on the job, and, importantly, change their financial lives for the better.

Recommended: The Future of Financial Well-Being in the Workplace

The Takeaway

Women are a vital part of any employer’s workforce. Benefits packages designed to address women’s specific needs can help employers attract and retain talented female employees. They can also help guarantee women, especially moms, have access to an equal playing field and a secure financial future.

SoFi at Work offers employers the benefits platform, education resources, and financial counseling that can help you assemble packages that help you increase employee productivity, loyalty, and overall well-being.

Photo credit: iStock/jacoblund

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Investing in food stocks can be a tasty endeavor. Learn about the types of food stocks, the associated risk, and how they can help build your investment portfolio.

FOMO trading, or the “fear of missing out” when trading, applies to the anxiety of potentially passing up a profitable investment that an investor may experience. “FOMO” is a term commonly used to describe other anxiety-inducing situations as well.

For investors who visualize a scenario where a stock rises sharply in value but goes unpurchased, the fear of missing out may cause them to make investing decisions that aren’t fully thought-through or in line with their investing strategy. Making emotional, knee-jerk decisions when investing can derail your overall strategy, too. That’s why it can be important to try and avoid it the best you can.

What Is FOMO Trading?

FOMO trading happens when an investor allows their fear of missing out to drive their investing decisions, to the exclusion of other insights and instincts. This can trigger errors, creating problems in an otherwise well-managed investment portfolio.

For example, an impatient trader may rush to buy a hot stock even if it doesn’t fit into their investment strategy, or if the stock risks could jeopardize the portfolio’s stability.

Yet, buying any investment without proper research, risk assessment, or a planned exit strategy if the stock goes down, is the opposite of effective stock market investing.

Understanding Behavioral Finance

Sociologists use the term “behavioral finance” to describe the overall need to abandon rational thought and follow a herd to mitigate any FOMO anxieties. With behavioral finance, emotional and sociological influences replace scrutiny and logical thinking, which can significantly alter investment outcomes.

The fact that so many stock market rumors are stoked on social media, and that there are so many investors who rely on social media for investment ideas, only adds more pressure to give in to your anxieties, and buy a stock or other investment that may not necessarily fit in with your investing strategy.

Ways to Avoid FOMO Trading

How can an investor fight off FOMO tendencies and remain a stable and steadfast investor? It’s not easy given the pressure to trade frequently these days, but these tips may help.

Invest With a Plan in Mind

Investors who trade according to a well-thought-out plan or investing strategy — and not with a FOMO mindset — are likely to be more prepared for better investment outcomes. By doing research, learning how to value a stock, and establishing your own tolerance for risk, you may be less likely to make rash or emotional decisions regarding your investments.

Stay Calm in Highly Volatile Markets

Many impulse trades come at a time when markets move fast. When investing in a volatile market, it’s especially important to trade with strategy in mind, rather than with your feelings.

Be Sensible About Trading

A single stock market trade rarely makes or breaks an investment portfolio. If you do hear about a can’t-miss stock and are anxious to pull the trigger and buy that stock, it can help to keep it in perspective: there’s always another market opportunity down the road. In other words, keep the big picture in mind.

Avoid Investing Money You Can’t Afford to Lose

The old adage of “never play with money you can’t afford to lose” is very much in play with FOMO investing. It’s never wise to chase a stock with large amounts of money your portfolio can’t afford to be without. In nearly all cases, if an investment’s risk is too high, and the potential impact to your portfolio is too acute, then it may be best to wait things out.

Don’t Mistake Social Media Advice for a Sound Investment Strategy

Social media captures a great deal of attention from market investors. But these platforms may be loaded with touts, short-sellers, penny stock promoters, and other investment shills who have their best interest in mind, rather than yours. As a rule, social media touts always talk up their gains but rarely mention their losses. Remember that maxim when you’re under the temptation of a FOMO trade.

The Takeaway

FOMO trading is a type of behavioral finance in which an investor lets emotions like the fear of missing out replace logical, strategic thinking. FOMO trading often happens on a whim without much thought, which can significantly impact investment outcomes.That’s why it’s important to have a cogent strategy in place, and to keep your goals in mind when making investing decisions.

While it can be difficult to completely separate your emotions from your investing activities, keeping your strategy top of mind can help direct your decision-making process. Again: It’s not easy, but with some practice and experience in the markets, learning to skip investing trends might become a bit easier.

Invest in what matters most to you with SoFi Active Invest. In a self-directed account provided by SoFi Securities, you can trade stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, alternative funds, options, and more — all while paying $0 commission on every trade. Other fees may apply. Whether you want to trade after-hours or manage your portfolio using real-time stock insights and analyst ratings, you can invest your way in SoFi's easy-to-use mobile app.