This Motherhood Cost: Mothers Forfeit Over £65k in Pay by Time Their Child Turns Five
Official figures show that women face a significant loss of around £65,600 in income by the point their eldest child reaches five, highlighting the termed “maternal price” that jeopardizes their financial security.
Significant and Enduring Earnings Reduction
Women in England face a “significant and prolonged reduction” in their income after giving birth to children, as they become less likely to stay in a job, as stated by analysis.
The study found that women’s typical monthly earnings had fallen by 42%, or £1,051 each month, 60 months after the birth of their eldest child, compared with their pay 12 months prior to the child’s arrival.
Total Losses Across Several Children
This translates to a forfeiture of over £65,600 over a five-year period, according to the research, which tracked pay information from 2014 through 2022.
Typically, there is an extra reduction of £26,317 after the birth of a second baby, and then a further over £32,400 following the arrival of a third baby.
Mothers are being “penalized for caring, sidelined at their jobs, and expected to just bear the financial burden.”
“Moreover, the more kids you have, the steeper the drop. This isn’t a gentle drop - it’s a economic freefall resulting in economic loss of over £100,000 for a woman of 3 kids.”
Severe Effect on Living Standards
Analysts described the reduction in pay as “severe for women’s quality of life.”
“Income is independence, and stripping mothers of that independence because they became parents is nothing short of outrageous.”
The figures mirror the unfair situation for working mothers, with calls for family leave policies to be brought into the modern era.
“Addressing the motherhood penalty requires bringing parental leave policies into the modern era, making sure both parents and fathers get adequate compensated time off when they start as parents – we should properly accommodate parenthood alongside work, not in spite of it.”
Current Family Leave Policies
Shared parental leave was introduced in recent years, enabling parents to share up to 50 weeks of time off, and up to 37 weeks of pay after the arrival or adopting of a child.
However, uptake has stayed minimal.
Under current rules, maternity leave is compensated at ninety percent of a woman’s typical each week earnings for the first one and a half months, then decreases to the lowest of either around £187 a week or 90% of the woman’s typical pay for 33 weeks.
New fathers can take two weeks’ compensated time off at a rate of either around £187 a week or ninety percent of average each week pay, whichever is lowest.
Official Examination and Childcare Funding
The government has promised positive steps from establishing flexible working the standard, to enhanced safeguards for expectant mothers and immediate paternity rights.
But with childcare funding for children from nine months plus only just rolling out and nurseries in certain regions struggling to meet demand, there’s still a long way to go before mothers are on an level playing field.
In September, working parents who have an income below £100,000 a year became eligible for thirty hours of government-funded childcare a per week during term time for kids aged nine months to four years old.
The roll-out coincides with the childcare industry encounters staffing and funding difficulties.
Research found that ninety-four percent of childcare centers were likely to increase their fees for ineligible families.
