Since the launch of our Future Generations strategy in 2022, we have been engaging with portfolio companies to understand how they support working parents (or soon-to-be parents) in their workforce, and to raise awareness of the broader benefits of family-friendly work policies.
As companies often do not publish comprehensive information on their practices in this area, these discussions give us more accurate insight what they actually do. They also help us establish a strong channel for constructive dialogue, encouraging greater transparency and ambition going forward.
2025 priorities: breastfeeding support, parental leave and childcare support
In last year’s update, we presented parental leave, childcare support and breastfeeding support at work as our three main discussion priorities for 2025.
About Federica Masut
Federica Masut is a Sustainability Analyst in the Impact Equities & Bonds team. She joined Triodos Investment Management in 2020. Before that, she worked at the Global Alliance for Banking on Values, a global network of sustainable banks, where she was responsible for the financial and sustainability assessment of prospective members. She holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Trento (Italy).
- Breastfeeding support
Particularly on this topic conversations were encouraging. We found that although companies may not always mention this in their reports or publicly available policies, there is growing awareness of the importance of adequate space for breastfeeding and expressing. Most of the companies we engaged with provide both the physical space and time flexibility for their employees to do so. Orthopediatrics, for example, showed a clear awareness of family-friendly work policies, with designated breastfeeding spaces on its premises, as well as flexible work arrangements for its employees (among other relevant initiatives), despite its generally limited reporting on sustainability matters. Gen Digital shared its intention to expand the availability of relaxation and lactation rooms.
- Paid parental leave
Many companies still fall short of the 14 weeks recommended by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), especially outside of the EU and UK. This is arguably one of the policies that most affects working parents and the wellbeing of their newborn (or newly adopted) children. It is also a policy area largely shaped by regulation: companies that lag behind often cite local regulations and do not openly consider going beyond mandatory requirements.
- Childcare support
For this topic,context appears highly relevant. In Europe and Australia, employer-linked childcare schemes are uncommon, and employees tend to prefer choosing the solutions that best suit their needs. This is also largely the case for US companies we spoke to. In light of these findings, we are reviewing our assessment of this topic and are considering prioritising issues related to living wages and fair compensation in our next engagement rounds.
Mixed and slow progress: gender pay gap reporting
In 2025, we also took a closer look at gender pay gap reporting, which ranked fourth on our list of most urgent topics in last year's analysis. Closing the gender pay gap is not only crucial for achieving workplace equality, but also helps address the ‘motherhood wage penalty’. Research shows that the gender pay gap widens at childbirth, meaning that women experience a fall in pay and slower pay growth as they become mothers. This not only affects family income and financial security, but also the equal sharing of caregiving responsibilities within the household. Both issues can negatively affect the home environment and, in turn, children’s wellbeing.
Portfolio companies Acomo, Ebro Foods and Sanoma started reporting on the gender pay gap, marking an important step towards transparency on this matter, which is key to enabling workplace equality. However, more than one third of the companies in our Future Generations portfolio still do not report on pay differences between men and women, or only do so for their operations in countries where this is legally required, for example in the UK. In some cases we have even seen a rollback in reporting on this issuer. We therefore started engaging on this matter in 2025 and will continue to do so in 2026.
From engagement to advocacy: shaping industry guidance
Our efforts extend beyond engagement with individual companies. In 2025, we continued our regular dialogues with UNICEF and contributed to the development of UNICEF’s Stewardship Guidelines for investors, which were published in early 2026. These guidelines are designed to give investors practical guidance for their stewardship activities helping them to advance companies’ awareness of their impacts on children.
By contributing to these guidelines, we aim to raise awareness in the wider investor community of its role in supporting children’s wellbeing through active stewardship, and of the opportunities that can arise from adopting a child lens in investments.
Looking ahead
Our 2025 engagement efforts have helped us to refine our understanding of companies’ practices and challenges around family-friendly work policies. We are encouraged by how open many of our holding have been in discussing these issues and by some of the progress we have seen. However, much more can still be done.
Our next steps for 2026 are to introduce the topic to the remaining portfolio companies and to continue sharing relevant material and best practices with them. We will also keep monitoring progress on parental leave policies and on gender pay gap reporting.
We remain committed to working with our investee companies, industry peers and partners such as UNICEF to drive progress on family-friendly policies and, in doing so, to contribute to long-term, sustainable business performance as well as to children’s wellbeing.