The Maternal Penalty: Mothers Lose £65,618 in Earnings by Age First Child Reaches Five
Official figures show that mothers face a significant loss of around £65,600 in pay by the point their first baby reaches five, highlighting the so-called “motherhood price” that threatens their economic stability.
Significant and Long-Lasting Earnings Reduction
Women in the UK experience a “significant and long-lasting reduction” in their income following giving birth to a child, as they are less likely to remain in a job, as stated by research.
Research found that women’s typical each month earnings had decreased by forty-two percent, or £1,051 each month, five years following the birth of their first baby, compared with their earnings 12 months before the child’s arrival.
Total Losses For Several Children
It translates to a loss of over £65,600 across five years, according to the research, which tracked pay information from 2014 through 2022.
Typically, there is an additional reduction of around £26,300 after the arrival of a second child, and then a subsequent £32,456 following the birth of a third baby.
Women are getting “penalized for parenting, sidelined at their jobs, and assumed to just bear the cost.”
“Moreover, the more children you have, the deeper the drop. It’s not a gradual decline - it is a financial nosedive leading to economic damage of over £100,000 for a woman of 3 kids.”
Catastrophic Impact on Quality of Life
Experts labeled the reduction in pay as “devastating for women’s quality of life.”
“Money is freedom, and depriving women of that independence because they became mothers is absolutely scandalous.”
Statistics show the unfair reality for mothers in the workforce, with demands for parental leave policies to be updated into the modern era.
“Addressing the motherhood penalty needs updating parental leave policies into the 21st century, ensuring all mothers and partners get ample paid time off when they become caregivers – we should properly accommodate parenthood alongside work, not in spite of it.”
Current Parental Leave Rules
Shared family leave was introduced in 2014, permitting parents to split up to 50 weeks of time off, and up to over eight months of earnings after the arrival or adopting of a child.
But, usage has stayed low.
According to current rules, mothers’ leave is compensated at ninety percent of a woman’s typical weekly earnings for the initial six weeks, then decreases to the lesser of either £187.18 a week or ninety percent of the mother’s average salary for 33 weeks.
Expectant dads can receive 14 days compensated leave at a amount of either around £187 a per week or 90% of average each week earnings, whichever one is less.
Government Examination and Early Years Funding
Authorities has pledged positive measures from making adaptable schedules the standard, to enhanced protections for expectant mothers and day-one paternity rights.
But with nursery support for children aged nine months old plus just now rolling out and nurseries in certain regions struggling to accommodate demand, there’s yet a long way to go before women are on an equal footing.
Recently, working parents who have an income below £100,000 a annually became eligible for thirty hours of government-funded nursery care a week during school terms for children from nine months old to four years old.
This initiative comes as the childcare industry encounters recruitment and financial difficulties.
A survey revealed that 94% of childcare centers were expected to raise their rates for non-eligible households.
