March 20, 2024

Quarter of working mothers think their career stalled because of parental leave

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace

A new poll from Totaljobs in partnership with the Fawcett Society, suggests that over a quarter (27 percent) of working mothers believe that their career progression has slowed as a result of taking parental leave – in comparison to 21 percent of working fathers. Around 18 percent went as far as to say they had been left out of more exciting work projects. The survey of over 3,000 working parents with at least one child up under the age of four found that a third of working mothers (34 percent) lost confidence in their skills and abilities after returning to work from parental leave. Almost half (48 percent) said this was because the balancing act of juggling work and parenting commitments undermined their confidence.

While an overwhelming majority of parents (78 percent) faced challenges when transitioning back to work, this was much higher among mothers (84 percent vs 74 percent of fathers).

The top challenges included, feeling guilty or anxious about leaving their child with childcare (45 percent), balancing work and childcare responsibilities (39 percent), and the affordability of childcare (35 percent). However, 44 percent of mothers surveyed said they felt more ambitious upon their return from maternity leave.

Over two fifths of mothers (41 percent) felt isolated and disconnected from colleagues upon returning from parental leave (compared to just 28 percent of working fathers). This was especially high among single mothers (60 percent).

Many mothers also reported encountering unhelpful perceptions and adjustments from their employers and colleagues upon their return. 18 percent said they had been made to feel they weren’t working hard enough, compared to 12 percent of working fathers. 15 percent felt excluded from work socials, versus 10 percent of working fathers. Other challenges included:

Facing additional pressure and workload (17 percent)
Having less recognition of their hard work (14 percent)
On the receiving end of microaggressions and negative comments (13 percent)

Around a third (30 percent) of mothers reported that they had no support when transitioning back to work, rising to 42 percent for those who took 26-52 weeks of maternity leave. Only 31 percent have access to flexible work arrangements, despite this being top of the list of the support they’d find the most useful.

A further 27 percent felt uncomfortable discussing the support they needed with their boss upon returning to work (vs just 17 percent fathers). 85 percent of businesses say they have policies in place to support mothers returning to work, however when trying to improve or bolster these benefits they come up against: