After childbirth, most women experience a significant drop in their careers. This is called the motherhood penalty.
According to Wikipedia, the motherhood penalty is a term coined by sociologists who argue that in the workplace, working mothers encounter biological and cultural-based disadvantages in pay, perceived competence, and benefits relative to childless women.
Mothers in the workforce most times face discrimination in the hiring process based on stereotypical views that women are less committed to their work, therefore less productive. Subsequently, this affects the employability rate of women, wages, evaluations, promotions, and in a long run, their careers.
To change the narrative, the government should make policies that prohibit discrimination against mothers, continue to promote paid parental leave, and assess gender wage gaps. Society and employers should learn to provide support for working mothers as that will reduce the penalization of women for starting a family.
Speak Wednesday is an initiative of CFHI to address issues around gender-based violence and gender bias. Join us every Wednesday on all our social media platforms for more episodes.
# SpeakWednesday #MotherhoodPenalty #GenderBias #Genderinequality
