Motherhood is, for many women, a deeply cherished and pivotal chapter of life, often envisioned and planned for years in advance. It embodies the culmination of personal dreams and the desire to nurture and raise the next generation. Likewise, a career is another cornerstone of a woman's identity, built through years of education, hard work, and relentless determination. Establishing oneself in a chosen field requires not only professional skills but also perseverance and passion, often becoming a significant part of who they are.
Balancing these two life-defining roles, however, can be a complex and demanding endeavour. While the role of “mothering” is widely celebrated and valued in society, the reality of balancing a career with motherhood is fraught with difficulties. These challenges frequently lead to career breaks, reduced work hours, and ultimately, a decline in workforce participation among mothers. Cross-country research highlights this trend, showing that on average, 24% of women exit the labour market during their first year of motherhood. Five years later, this figure drops to 17%, but even after a decade, 15% of mothers remain absent from the workforce.
Given the prevailing expectation that continuous work is necessary for career progression, it is not surprising that mothers are significantly underrepresented in leadership positions. The structural barriers that force many women to choose between their careers and their families contribute to this persistent inequality, making it clear that more needs to be done to support mothers in the workplace.
Additionally, while the choice between motherhood and career is already challenging, Asian women often face additional difficulties due to longstanding customs and outdated traditional roles.
“Motherhood Penalty” is very real
"Motherhood penalty" refers to the systematic and systemic disadvantages that mothers face in the workforce compared to their childless counterparts. These disadvantages manifest in terms of pay, perceived competence, and benefits.
In layman's terms, the motherhood penalty is a significant contributor to the gender pay gap, accounting for approximately 80% of it—a staggering figure. Recent data reveals that women aged 18 to 21 earn 0.2% more than their male peers, whereas women aged 40 to 49 earn 10% less than their male counterparts.
Joeli Brearley, the Founder of Pregnant Then Screwed shared, “Typically, women and men progress in their careers at a similar rate, especially if they share similar backgrounds and educational levels. There is minimal gender pay disparity until a woman becomes pregnant. Once pregnant, she is often perceived as less competent and less committed than her peers. As a result, she may be sidelined, demoted, or face overt discrimination.
“After giving birth, a woman typically takes up to a year off work to care for her baby, as dictated by parental leave policies. This time away from the workforce can stall her career progression. When she returns, she is often expected to continue as the primary caregiver, which leads to further career sacrifices. She may look at the cost of childcare, compare it to her salary, and conclude that it’s financially unfeasible to continue working full-time. This often leads to requests for part-time work or other flexible working arrangements, which can result in reduced pay and further discrimination.”
Joeli also shared that this cycle of sacrifice and discrimination continues over the years. By the time a woman's first child is 12 years old, her pay rate, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies, is 33% lower than that of a man. This stark difference illustrates the motherhood penalty—the penalty in terms of earnings and career progression that women experience, while men typically do not.
Dr Jana Javornik, Associate Professor of Work and Employment Relations at Leeds University Business School, is of the opinion that women are more likely than men to cut the number of hours or leave the job when family needs arise. They leave employment at different stages, especially when working hours and workplace requirements are difficult to manage alongside caring responsibilities for children and other dependants. She said, “The implications for the gender opportunity gap are further pronounced when women have a second or third child, contributing to their cumulative disadvantage. The existing motherhood and care-related penalties on employment and earnings also translate into a higher pension gap. This means that women with care responsibilities are exposed to lower pension benefits and higher poverty risks in old age.”
She further added that “While many women choose to but many also need to return to paid employment. This may be because of their need to earn household income, shortfalls or changes in family circumstances, including household income shocks. However, many returners are likely to move into lower-skilled or lower-paid roles, experiencing an immediate earnings reduction. This happens for a host of reasons, including the need to work shorter hours because childcare just isn’t affordable or available. This is pertinent to most but the wealthiest socio-economic groups.”
Aekta Patel, Global Head of Venture Capital at the Department for Business and Trade, is a working mother who never anticipated just how challenging it would be to balance motherhood and a demanding career. Before becoming a mother, she frequently travelled overseas, attended evening events, and participated in breakfast meetings—work consumed a significant portion of her life. However, after returning from maternity leave, she found it impossible to maintain her previous work routine. While the situation was difficult, she was determined not to give up the senior role she had worked so hard to attain. Leveraging the years of credibility she had built within the civil service; she successfully persuaded her superiors to allow her to job share her role. This arrangement enabled her to manage a large team on a part-time basis while still spending quality time with her 18-month-old son.
Ethnic Minorities have it harder
Around a quarter of a million mothers with young children have been forced to leave their jobs due to the challenges of balancing work and childcare.
Out of these countless women many face some form of discrimination. These numbers are likely even higher due to the intersectional discrimination that disproportionately affects both Asian and Black women. Prof Jana told Asian Voice that, “The situation is challenging for most women, but it is particularly dire for Black and South Asian women, especially those from Bangladeshi and Pakistani backgrounds, who have historically experienced the lowest employment rates due to various factors such as discrimination and long wait times to secure jobs.
“However, these groups have also seen the largest increases in employment rates between 2004 and 2022. This is a complex issue that requires more in-depth discussion, but in general, women from lower socio-economic backgrounds face even greater difficulties due to limited options—factors like race, ethnicity, and education levels all contribute to these challenges.”
For Shrimoyee Chakraborty, Chef turned Filmmaker and TV host, the biggest sources of discrimination and stereotypes came from within South Asian communities. She said, “In South Asian communities, there’s an expectation that once you become a mother, you should no longer care about yourself. When I try to look presentable in the morning, I face criticism for being too dressed up, while if I don't make an effort, I'm criticised for looking dishevelled.
“Additionally, there’s a stark difference in how mothers and fathers are treated. It seems there's an expectation for mothers to suddenly transform into a self-sacrificing, ever-present figure overnight, which is another stereotype in itself. The expectations on mothers—how they should speak, behave, and dress—can be incredibly limiting and frustrating.”
Is the government supporting women’s careers?
In February 2023, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) partnered with the leading panel provider Find Out Now to conduct a landmark survey involving over 4,100 respondents. The research revealed that two-thirds of women believe they have missed out on career advancement opportunities due to childcare responsibilities.
Governments and employers play a crucial role in shaping the support available to parents, and their decisions have significant consequences. The difficulty of balancing work and parenting varies widely between countries, depending on their policies.
Factors such as parental leave, sick leave, childcare availability (including after-school and summer programs), and flexible working arrangements all influence how supportive or challenging a country’s environment can be for working mothers and active fathers. These policies define the framework within which employers operate and can either enhance or hinder parents' ability to access and utilise their rights and options.
Childcare in the UK is one of the most expensive across the globe. According to Prof Jana, “A chronic lack of adequate and affordable childcare, including after-school programs in primary schools, along with insufficient flexible working options and the need for commuting, are significant factors preventing women from working or seeking employment, opting for a lower-paid, less demanding jobs.”
She also feels that shared parental leave legislation is an opportunity missed. “Ten years after shared parental leave was introduced in the UK, there remains fertile ground for litigation by fathers who are not being offered the same benefits by their companies as women on maternity leave, i.e. legal challenges under equality law on the grounds of discrimination”, she said.
Joeli Brearley also shared her opinion on this parity. According to her, “the current parental leave system is outdated and disproportionately favours women taking extended leave, while fathers receive only two weeks of paid paternity leave at a rate of £172 per week. This disparity reinforces outdated gender roles and often forces families into debt as they struggle with inadequate support. The pay for paternity leave is insufficient, contributing to financial strain and exacerbating the childcare crisis.
She also raised an important point that significant changes are needed from both the government and employers to better support mothers and ensure they can be both effective parents and valued workers. “The current situation is challenging, and with the decline in birth rates posing a threat to the future economy, it's crucial for the government to act quickly to address these issues”, she said.
She added that the current childcare system is overly complex with multiple benefit schemes making it challenging for families to understand and access their entitlements. “We propose scrapping the current system and moving to a single, streamlined benefit where families pay no more than 5% of their household income for early years education, with a focus on supporting lower-income families”, Joeli said.
Providing a perspective in teaching profession, think tank The New Britain Project and the charity MTPT Project recommend that the government should implement a recruitment target for female headteachers, prioritise childcare places for teachers, and offer back-to-school coaching to address the “motherhood penalty.”
The report emphasises that retaining female teachers in their 30s should be the government’s “top priority,” as they represent the largest group exiting the profession annually. “Focusing on their retention will create a crucial shift, helping to keep more experienced teachers in the field,” the report asserts. “This will stabilise the workforce and ultimately address the unsustainable levels of teacher attrition.”
In the 2023-24 period, the overall recruitment target for teacher training, both primary and secondary, fell short by 38%. Additionally, last year saw 9,147 women aged 30 to 39 leave their teaching positions, more than any other demographic.
Adding a mum’s perspective, Aekta said, “You can implement all the policies you like but ultimately the culture and people are the hardest to change. School timings and work timings don’t align. Commuting to work and back is timely in London. Babies and kids until high school age need their mums full stop. So how do you work around this as a working mum? You fight and you keep using your voice to ensure that you get the right working pattern you need.”
