Like many mothers, I found myself taking a career break when my first child was born. I stayed at home while my husband returned to full-time work after two weeks’ parental leave. Little did I realise, I wouldn’t be returning to full-time work for a considerable time.
As our family grew, I darted between working part-time and freelancing. With three children and little extended family support, it seemed a daunting prospect for both my husband and I to work full-time. So I decided to stay at home, especially since my husband had the capacity to earn a higher wage.
I must add that this was something I chose to do, and I’m so grateful that later on I could mostly do my work from home.
But for a number of years I didn’t work. This, of course, has impacted my career trajectory, as well as taken an economic toll on my earnings and how much superannuation I have.
It mostly falls on women, who, after becoming mothers, find themselves either staying at home or returning to work part-time
My situation is not unique. It mostly falls on women, who, after becoming mothers, find themselves either staying at home or returning to work part-time. For the rest of their lives, mothers are financially impacted by having children.
As the highlighted, having children comes at a huge cost for most women. The “motherhood penalty”, as it has been dubbed, is laid bare in the facts. “Following the arrival of children, women typically make significant and long-term adjustments to their paid employment, while men’s employment remains largely unchanged,” .
“Treasury research finds that women’s earnings are reduced by an average of 55 per cent in the first five years of parenthood. This ‘motherhood penalty’ remains significant a decade into parenthood. This is primarily because mothers typically reduce their paid work hours or exit the labour force to care for children, while fathers’ work patterns remain unchanged on average. No significant long-term impact on earnings is observed for men after the arrival of children.”
That last line really hits home, especially when you consider that in the three years before childbirth, men’s and women’s wages trend in a similar direction, but after the birth of a child their incomes immediately start to diverge (see graph).
Women face a significant economic penalty after becoming mothers. Source: Treasury analysis of HILDA Release 19.0.
As noted in , “Australian women pay a larger ‘motherhood penalty’ than women in other developed countries. It’s estimated to be 25 per cent in Denmark, 36 per cent in the UK, 34 per cent in the US and 40 per cent in Sweden” (in contrast to ).
These statistics prove what many women already know from experience. We not only face a , we have also been worst hit during the pandemic, with women losing jobs more than men and shouldering much more unpaid domestic labour. As found: “Six months out of work can add another $100,000 to the average $2 million lifetime earnings gap between men and women with children in Australia.”
The danger of this trend is that women are potentially retiring into poverty. As , taking time off to raise children can lead to a “perception that women’s skills have depreciated and can mean that women return to lower-status or lower-paid roles”, which can result in having fewer opportunities for career progression and being paid less for the work they do.
Policymakers and politicians are starting to realise the importance of ensuring mothers don’t get left behind
On a positive note, at least now policymakers and politicians are starting to realise the importance of ensuring mothers don’t get left behind. The current Labor government is introducing , meaning parental leave will be extended to 26 weeks, with dads and partners encouraged to take the leave so it isn’t just up to women to shoulder the burden of caregiving.
The October budget also signalled that what were once considered “women’s issues” are now issues that affect the nation, with of the agenda.
In my case, with all three of my children now in school, my career is very much back in my sights. Although I’ve lost some good years of earning a decent wage, I don’t at all regret spending that time with my children – it’s something you can’t put a price on. Yes, I may have been financially penalised for it, but not every decision in life is made from a financial perspective. And that, ultimately, is what makes being a mother so very complex.
Saman Shad is a freelance writer.
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