Research has found that women can expect to see their earnings fall by 10% in 10 years following the birth of a child.
The cumulative loss of income for a woman who had their first child in 2010/11 was typically around £65,000 over the course of a decade, compared to what they would have earned if they had remained childless.
A typical woman without a child can expect to see their earnings increase by a third over the course of a decade, whereas women with children earn around 10% less after this period.
This pay discrepancy is exacerbated by the cost of childcare, which often leaves women unable to work as much as they would like to do, reducing their earnings whilst simultaneously limiting their career progression.
There is of course no comparable salary drop for men with children and the cumulative effect is huge, with working mothers earning up to 20% less than their male counterparts over the course of their career.
The ‘motherhood penalty’ may account for a significant proportion of the gender pay gap. The gender pay gap is slowly narrowing but until working mothers’ pay and progression improves, and childcare costs are addressed, the gender pay gap will not be eliminated.
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