Lais explains, “Before having my children, the agency handled many tasks, such as fashion week events and large festivals, which often extended beyond the traditional 9-to-5 work hours. With more children, I increasingly relied on collaborative projects.
Also, clients understood the importance of allocating time for my family.” While Lais had the freedom to adapt to her new situation, other working mothers struggled to balance between family needs and work requirements.
The pandemic made parenting more difficult. Official US statistics from 2020 show that 45% of mothers quit their jobs after the pandemic. Many mothers left the workforce for a variety of reasons, such as the difficulty of caring for ill children and the scarcity of maternity leave opportunities.
Maternity as a Barrier to Professional Advancement
Returning to work after a brief maternity leave can present challenges for any mother. However, mothers with more than one child take multiple maternity leaves and face significant negative impacts on their careers.
According to Dana Kirwin, Government Relations Manager at Medela, “Women generally face tougher challenges in professional advancement. Several factors contribute to this, including the "maternity barrier," which refers to situations where women's advancement in the workplace is impeded by childbirth.” Dana manages the Kin program, which aims to provide nursing services to employees with employer support.
She adds, “This harm can take many forms, such as missed promotion opportunities, salary bonuses, lack of project assignments or job opportunities, and even demotion or income loss due to not receiving paid leave after giving birth to a new child. Evidently, these difficulties increase with the number of children a mother has.”
The pandemic highlighted the clear impact of the "maternity barrier." Based on analysis by Stateline, a Pew Charitable Trusts initiative, mothers lost their jobs at three times the rate of fathers.
Martica Marin, a mother and Regional Marketing Director at Top Employers Institute, a global company focused on recognizing best practices for employees, says, “Inequity in financial and job burdens contributes to this negative phenomenon.
Mothers with three or more children often face tougher decisions regarding balancing work and maternal responsibilities. We're not just talking about time constraints; it also involves financial responsibilities resulting from caring for multiple children.”
Does Having Many Children Worsen the Situation?
Having more children can indeed increase the challenges for some parents, especially when childcare costs surpass the parents' combined income. According to Care.com, childcare costs have risen significantly, surpassing $1,000 per month per child in 2021 for after-school babysitting services and around $900 per month for daycare services.
If a family requires a nanny, the average monthly cost can rise to $2,800 per child. Therefore, the costs for a family of three can range from $3,000 to $8,400 monthly for various childcare expenses.
The same source reports that 59% of families are concerned about the high costs of childcare and how it impacts parents’ ability to maintain their professional lives.
Interestingly, according to 2021 statistics, more than 30% of married women earn more than their husbands, highlighting that even when faced with the decision to prioritize childcare over their careers, it often falls on mothers—even if they outearn their spouses.
5 Steps Companies Can Follow to Support Working Mothers
Companies can significantly improve the work environment culture so that mothers can return to work. To achieve this, companies can do the following:
1. Affordably Support Childcare Programs and Initiatives
Employers can communicate more effectively if they have initiatives or programs dedicated to childcare, especially if they are willing to support this concept.
Marin says, "Some policies may benefit parents, such as flexible spending accounts that save some money before tax deductions, and then allocate this money for childcare."
Additionally, companies can provide certain government initiatives, like the recently updated Tennessee Child Support Program and initiatives to support affordable childcare programs.
2. Facilitate for Breastfeeding Mothers
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of a child's life and offering complementary foods alongside milk for another 6 months. They emphasize breastfeeding for at least two years, according to the mother and child's desires.
According to Kirwin, only 25% of newborns receive exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, and 60% of moms say they don't meet their target of breastfeeding for a set amount of time.
Kirwin was part of the recent statistics after her first postpartum period in her previous job and says, "I planned to breastfeed my child for at least 6 months, but it was a challenging experience. Sometimes it was difficult to find time to breastfeed my child daily, and I was only able to achieve that during the first six months before stopping with mixed feelings of relief and disappointment."
However, she can now breastfeed her second child for a full year in her current company due to fully paid maternity leave, a flexible return-to-work policy, and the company's support for breastfeeding.
Companies can look into support programs, products, and services like Mamava, which provides solutions for breastfeeding mothers, through which the company can offer facilities for breastfeeding mothers that comply with state laws.
3. Appoint Mothers to Leadership Positions and Support Their Success
Women leaders do not exceed 25% compared to men. Kirwin says that this statistic indicates that women do not receive sufficient support, especially considering that they comprise more than half of the workforce.
According to Kirwin, the data on this comparison is startling because one in four American women returns to work less than ten days after giving birth. Additionally, the lack of support for women during this delicate time in their lives results in numerous challenges at the very least. It undoubtedly lowers the number of women in leadership roles.
4. Provide Paid Maternity Leave of at Least 3 Months
Although the United States is among the very few countries that do not offer paid maternity leave, companies or states shouldn't adopt this policy. Therefore, they can prioritize helping staff members who become parents.
According to The Center for American Progress, 11 states in America have passed laws for paid family and medical leave, and research shows that longer maternity leave leads to better health outcomes for both the mother and child.
5. Support Mothers with Multiple Children Returning to Work
Promotion opportunities are occasionally overlooked or even penalized for mothers who return to work after taking a break to care for their children for several years.
Marin says, "Some mothers have tried to return to their previous jobs after several years but found it difficult because of their resumes' gap from motherhood years, This situation seriously harms the mother's professional career."
Companies can seek to implement mother support initiatives like The Mom Project, which would help to solve the problem of getting talented mothers back into the workforce. Also, they can reach out to former staff members who contributed significantly to the business but took time off to raise their young children.
Marin adds, "The inability of mothers with more than 3 children to join the workforce leads to a loss of valuable talent, so companies that create a supportive work environment for mothers can achieve very high ROI (returns on investment) through this support. The working mother is more productive, creative, and ready to assume a leadership position in the organization when she feels comfortable in her workplace."
In Conclusion
Almost half of the world's population are women, so mothers make up a sizable portion of the workforce. Therefore, it is natural that providing a supportive work environment and activating maternity support programs play a significant role in improving the global economy as it positively impacts women's productivity and creativity.
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