Money Makers: Motherhood and Careers

 

A July ResumeBuilder.com survey of 1,251 American women found that 33% of women who have children and/or are currently pregnant say having children has had a negative impact on their career.

Given the reversal of Roe v. Wade last month, the goal of our survey was to better understand how having children impacts women who are pursuing or aspire to pursue a career.

Additional key findings include:

• 3 in 10 women overall, regardless of whether they have children of their own or not, believe having children has a negative impact on women’s careers
• Women who are younger, higher earners, more educated, and identify as pro-choice are more likely than their counterparts to say having children negatively impacts women’s careers and has negatively impacted their own career
• 39% of women with children struggle with work-life balance
• 33% of women believe they were discriminated against by an employer due to being pregnant
• 52% of women who are expecting say their current employer’s parental leave policy is inadequate or nonexistent

Here is the full article.

I was able to get a little additional insight in this interview.

What are some of the ways that having kids can affect careers, particularly for mothers?

When we asked why, if at all, they believe having children has a negative effect on a woman’s career, the top answer chosen by 59% of women was that ‘work-life balance is difficult.’

Additional reasons include employers not providing enough flexibility (42%), family-leave policies being insufficient (37%), and career advancement being more challenging (33%).

For parents who want to continue moving forward in their careers, how can they work to create better policies in the workplace?

When women who are currently working were asked how comfortable they would be asking their current employer for more flexibility so they can achieve a good work-life balance if they felt it was something they need, 7% said they were very uncomfortable, 23% somewhat uncomfortable, 45% somewhat comfortable, and 25% very comfortable.

This says nearly 3 in 10 women are uncomfortable asking for what they need to achieve work-life balance. 

How does age affect perception of how having children affects careers?

Our survey found that younger women were more likely to hold the belief that having children negatively impacts women's careers and that younger women were more likely to say having children has impacted their own career. We also found younger women were more likely to say they had faced pregnancy discrimination.