Motherhood penalty leaving mothers feeling like “second-class citizens”

Recent data has shown that having children leads to a significant and long-lasting reduction in mothers’ earnings.

Called ‘The Motherhood Penalty’, this is the economic and professional disadvantages that women face as a result of becoming mothers.

Eshe Kiama Zuri, 29, of Nottingham is a professional doula also navigating life after giving birth to their newborn child, Kiki, eight weeks ago, from a cryptic pregnancy.

“If you choose to get pregnant, it’s like you’re choosing to become a second-class citizen.”

Eshe Kiama Zuri, 29

They reported that they’d “definitely” seen clients worry about the systemic issues they may face after giving birth.

Eshe said: “They are very worried about not being able to progress within the workplace.

“There is this idea that you should put your job ahead of your life. If you choose to do something like give birth or if you choose to get pregnant, it’s like you’re choosing to become a second-class citizen, like you’re choosing to not want to participate in the workplace. You shouldn’t be discriminated against because you choose to also have a family.”

Although these figures are partially a result of a reduction in employment, Eshe spoke about the significant impact that having a child has on earnings in general.

“The government benefits could be better as well. I mean, like £24 something a week for a child is really not very helpful. I’ve had a baby for seven weeks and I’ve spent £180 on nappies and wipes alone.
So it’s like, you know, what is 100 pound a month really going to help with?”

Hayley Woolley, 37, of Arnold is an adoptive mother to her four-year-old girl Molly since she was 15 months old.

She said: “She [Molly] came with a lot of stuff already, so I didn’t have to spend as much. I did start saving from quite a while before but if I had gone down the needing everything route, just on my pay check, I don’t think I would have managed it.”

She added: “You get thirty hours free at nursery but then nursery fees are ridiculous, so I decided to only put her in nursery for a few days, so I didn’t have to pay, but I had a very supportive family.

“Do I think the fees are fair? No, I think they’re too high, because if I had to take her to nursery five days a week, I would have no money.”