Mothers in the Workplace

By Laura Duncan on 04/28/2011 @ 03:45 PM

Today is Bring our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. This important event encourages young boys and girls to envision their future and to get involved with their families and communities. But as children accompany their mothers to work today, what kind of environment will they see? Recent studies show that the gender wage gap has decreased in a significant way in the United States. But unfortunately there is still one factor that strongly impacts women’s careers: motherhood. Recent studies show that mothers face a significant decrease in their wages when they have children, and that the wage gap between mothers and women without children below the age of 35 is greater than the gender wage gap.

In February, 2011, Human Rights Watch released a report called “Failing our Families: Lack of Paid Leave and Work-Family Support in the United States”. The NGO looked at 181 countries, and found conclusive evidence that only three offer no legal guarantee of paid maternity leave: Papua New Guinea, Swaziland and the United States. In America, only 11% of civilian workers have the right to paid family leave. Although some parents can use other forms of paid leave such as vacation time or sick days, one third of the American workforce lacks such rights. Only about one half of the workforce is protected under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, which guarantees unpaid, but job-protected, maternity leave. Only two states currently have a state paid family leave insurance program: California and New Jersey. Contrary to the rhetoric of paid family leave critics, who say that this benefit will damage business, studies conducted in California showed a positive or non-noticeable impact of paid maternity leave on productivity, profitability, performance, turnover and employee morale.

There are very serious effects to denying paid family leave to new parents. Some mothers who use unpaid sick days after birth are forced to return to work before they are physically recovered, either because their presence is requested by an employer, or because they can no longer afford unpaid leave. Children are also affected by the lack of paid family leave: parents who are afforded extended leave take their children to the doctor and immunize their sons and daughters more frequently. Moreover, when paid family leave is granted to new parents, studies show an overall decrease in infant mortality rates.

In addition to the difficulties faced after birth or adoption, mothers continue to be disadvantaged in the workplace as their children grow up. Mothers are often perceived as less capable and committed than nonmothers. Human Rights Watch references a study by Shelley J. Correll, Stephen Benard and In Paik, published in the American Journal of Sociology in 2007, according to which:

• Mothers were judged to be significantly less competent (10 percent lower) and committed (15 percent lower) than women without children;
• Mothers were held to stricter performance and punctuality standards, and needed a significantly higher score on the management exam than nonmother women before being considered hirable;
• Alternatively, fatherhood had a positive effect on male applicants, but the difference was not statistically significant.

So, as we see our female coworkers bringing their children to work today, we should reflect on the difficulties they might have faced, and question the perception that being a good mother and a good employee are incompatible goals. We should also think of the young girls who are visiting their mothers’ workplace today. Do we want our daughters to envision a future in which they will have to choose between a successful career and motherhood?

Click on the following sources for more information::

• Correll, Shelley J., Benard, Stephen and Paik, In. Getting a Job: Is There a Motherhood Penalty? In American Journal of Sociology, Volume 112, number 5 (2007).
• Human Rights Watch, Failing It's Families: Lack of Paid Leave and Work-Family Support in the US (February, 2011).

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