The invisible cost of the motherhood penalty
There is no instruction manual to motherhood and the art of 'managing it all' and merely not enough information or debate out there as to what it takes, mentally and emotionally, to juggle both family life and full time work and still look and feel alive at the end of every day. Most importantly, the hidden 'penalty' working mothers face in the corporate world once returning back to work after having a baby has not been addressed or documented enough. The motherhood penalty refers to the negative impact that motherhood can have on a woman's career advancement, earnings, and opportunities for professional growth. Despite advancements in gender equality, mothers continue to face discrimination, bias, and systemic barriers that hinder their progress in the workforce. It is important to explore the motherhood penalty and its underlying causes and identify strategies to address it in order to promote greater equity and empowerment for working mothers. I am surprised the world has not yet seen a #metoo type of campaign addressing the 'motherhood penalty' or 'maternity discrimination' overall.
Perhaps there is no better time than now to raise awareness on this topic. Why now? Because we have recently seen an incredible shift in statistics indicating the increasing presence of working mums in the workforce, with over 70% of women with preschool age kids actively engaged in pursuing a professional career. This is a surge compared to pre-pandemic figures and is likely attributed to changing dynamics of the modern workplace thanks to the wider acceptance and accessibility of remote and hybrid work arrangements. Yet, more women at work does not suddenly eradicate the motherhood penalty, a lot more has to be done within the corporate mindset and in society overall. As we move into a new digital era that embraces artificial intelligence, business and society should join forces to create an world in which working parents, especially women, do not have to sacrifice either their careers or their personal family time.
Understanding the motherhood penalty - specifically, the ever increasing pay gap - is not something that people casually talk about. It is widely assumed that society, especially in developed markets, has been moving towards a fair degree of equality between men and women in the workplace and most companies nowadays hope to achieve a diverse workforce. Indeed, a certain degree of inequality is still acknowledged in the pay gap between men and women for the performance of the same job, however it is not widely known for a fact that this pay gap tends to increase once a woman returns to work after bearing children. The motherhood penalty manifests itself in various ways, including:
Career interruptions
Many women experience interruptions in their careers due to maternity leave, childcare responsibilities, and family obligations. These interruptions can result in gaps in employment, reduced work hours, and limitations in career advancement opportunities.
Unsurprisingly, a study found that 96% of working dads embraced full time work, as opposed to 78% of working moms. More so, it found that women with older children are more likely to work full time, while fathers had a consistent likelihood of working full time, irrespective of their children's ages.
Pay disparities
Research has shown that mothers often earn less than their childless counterparts, even when controlling for factors such as education and experience. The pay gap widens with each child, reflecting biases and discrimination against mothers in the workplace. The Institute for Women's Policy Research revealed that a significant 43% of women experience a minimum of one year without earnings, which is double than of men. Women also face a 39% decrease in annual earnings after only one year out of the workplace, compared to those who face no career breaks whatsoever.
Systemic bias
Mothers may also face bias in the workplace, such as being perceived as less committed, less competent, or less available for work due to their parenting responsibilities. These biases influence hiring decisions, promotions, and performance evaluations, thus endlessly perpetuating the motherhood penalty.
The rationalist economic approach emphasizes that women with kids are less likely to seek high-paying jobs because these tend to not be flexible enough. Surely, there is some truth to the idea that a woman who has children may not choose jobs that are too rigid in terms of long working hours or may not prefer jobs that require intensive travel. Yet, this may well apply to working fathers too, especially as more and more men participate in childcare and household activities. Even so, some women do desire such jobs and therefore these types of assumptions should not be embedded in the hiring process if the female candidate for the job is willing to go ahead with a particular opportunity. And yet, there is an indirect bias from management against such female candidates from the start of the recruitment process. The stats in the US alone show that the motherhood penalty is a reality long embedded in our society – about 60% of work opportunities are given to less qualified candidates instead of working mums who are more skilled and over 72% of working mothers and fathers agree that women are penalized over time for starting families while men are not.
It is hypocritical to assume that working men who have children do not face the exact same emotional toll as mothers, at the onset of their parenting journey, at least, or that they do not also revise their priorities on work-life balance after becoming parents. After all, nowadays, if women contribute financially to the family income and men are more involved in raising children, the responsibility of having children and dealing with their needs should fall 50-50 on the couple. And yet, maternity and paternity leaves are not split equally in most societies and when it comes to dealing with either a regular childcare-related commitment or a child emergency, the mentality of 'the mum will do it' or 'can't your wife take care of it' still very much persists in the corporate world.
In fact, research has found that women going back to work after childbirth actually work harder & more efficiently compared to before. They do not waste time on long coffee breaks or wandering around the office for the sake of it because their 'family time' or 'me time' is so little and so precious. They also tend to be better able to multi-task, more organized and patient, make better listeners and engage in more effective decision-making. However, a career break, no matter how short or long it is, equates with a cut in lifetime earnings and it has been noted that even those employees who opt for flexible hours actually get more work assigned as a result.
As per the sociological approach to the issue, the motherhood penalty is built in and further perpetuated via false yet deeply rooted old-fashioned structures among corporate management:
1. Women are still under-represented in top managerial positions. These are still male dominated.
2. People in top managerial positions make certain assumptions:
Once a woman is a mother, her children come first and therefore she may not be as committed to the job as she was before becoming a mother. Due to a decreased lack in commitment, the said woman will do less work and therefore perform worse over time. Due to having a family, she may take more time off or work reduced hours to accommodate for her family's needs.
3. Management base any opportunities for promotion on the above assumptions and may therefore favour male candidates over female ones.
The time-effect of this never-ending cycle is the increasing disparity in income progression between a working woman who is a mother and one who isn't and even more so between a working mum and a working father. For example, if over 40% of women in the US are breadwinners, this discrimination towards women has a negative economic effect on society overall – women have less opportunities for financial growth and independence, men have trouble being accepted as equal caregivers in the workplace and according to Forbes research, the global economy misses out on the $28 trillion that could be added to the world GDP if we were to reach full gender equality in the workplace. The situation in Europe is by no means better – a Danish study in 2018 found that women's incomes drop by up to 30% after the birth of the first child and never catch up. Conversely, men who become fathers are seen as more 'stable' employees, since they have a family to support and their incomes tend to increase by up to 20% compared to men with no children. Isn't it ironic?
In the above, I have so far addressed the issue of the motherhood penalty in developed countries. However, if we look at a comparative institutional approach to the issue across the globe, it it worth noting that the degree of the motherhood penalty varies widely due many other factors, such as local policies to support working mothers and outsource childcare, cultural factors such as family tradition and the expectation for the woman to stay at home raising children, the lack of formal job protection for working mothers and many more.
How do we move past the motherhood penalty?
There are several strategies that can help alleviate this burden, such as implementing flexible work arrangements, including hybrid and remote work, as well as flexible hours and job-sharing. These can empower working mothers and fathers to balance their professional and personal lives more effectively. Providing the right amount of paid parental leave for both women and men would allow a more equal distribution of both family responsibilities and career progression for both genders, as well as promote employee retention, job satisfaction, and overall fairness.
But for the these measures to be implemented, organisations must first and foremost actively address bias and discrimination against mothers in the workplace through awareness training, diversity initiatives, and inclusive policies. Encouraging better leadership practices, promoting diversity in hiring and promotion decisions, and challenging stereotypes can help create a more equitable and supportive work environment for working mothers. Moreover, investing in career development programs and mentorship opportunities for working mothers can be extremely empowering. Providing access to networking events, skill-building workshops, and professional development resources can help mothers overcome barriers and enhance both their confidence and their career prospects.
Last but not least, advocating for policy changes at the organisational and legislative levels can help address systemic inequalities and create a more supportive environment for working parents. Changing the corporate landscape in order to achieve a more balanced view on work versus family life for both men and women and decreasing the gap stemming from old school attitudes still have a long way to go. It is not only up to each one of us individually voicing our wishes, needs and concerns on the topic but also up to our politicians and policy-makers to adopt initiatives that encourage businesses to address these issues from within and re-assess the correctness of corporate mentality when it comes to opportunity fairness, work-life balance and the overall happiness and professional growth of the workforce. Working parents must not be punished for the choice to have a family but supported throughout their journey because they are motivated to work so much harder in order to grow professionally and provide a decent and happy life for their offspring. Supporting initiatives such as equal pay legislation, affordable childcare, and subsidised parental leave can promote greater equity and fairness in the workplace and society at large.
Perhaps following the change in work practices brought about by the 'work from home' effect of the 2020 pandemic, there is now more awareness than ever on the topic of balancing family life versus work. The last few years brought more transparency on the struggles of working full time with children around for both genders. If anything, a child crashing one's work conference call has become a common theme post-2020. There is no better time than now for societies to start addressing the motherhood penalty and convey it the importance it deserves going forward.
The motherhood penalty still represents a significant barrier to gender equality and economic empowerment for working mothers. Once organisations recognise the challenges faced by mothers in the workforce and implement strategies to address them, they can create more inclusive, supportive, and equitable workplaces where all employees, regardless of parental status, can thrive and succeed. Female leaders becoming mentors and supporting other women throughout their career journey is key, but not enough. Men who actively participate in family life also need to step up and voice their needs and concerns at work so as to normalise parental responsibilities for both genders. Men and women in corporate leadership as well as high government officials need to not just talk the talk for the sake of PR, only slightly touching on the issue, but walk the walk by setting their own example and finally normalise both fatherhood and motherhood. After all, any significant progress to reduce the income inequality that stems from the motherhood penalty shall start with increased awareness on the matter and a substantial change in attitude from us all. Through collective efforts to combat bias, promote flexibility, and invest in career development, we can build a brighter and more inclusive future for working mothers everywhere.
Written by Musata Matei,
Founder & CEO of Rise Up.