ISN'T IT TIME WE STOPPED PUNISHING WOMEN FOR BEING PREGNANT?

75% of working mothers have experienced discrimination as a result of having a child, photograph: CC

By Seren Jones

05.03.18

We’re told there’s never been a better time to be a mum in the workplace. We can thank the likes of Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, for making it admirable for women to be pregnant and have a career at the same time. Her book, Lean In, even tells you how to thrive in male-dominated industries. Hooray for us. On the surface, things are looking good for pregnant career women. Babies, management roles: we can have it all.

Scratch a little deeper, however, and we find that serious problems remain underneath the successes of Sandberg and others. According to a government commissioned study, 75% of working mothers have experienced discrimination as a result of having a child. That study wasn’t pre-suffragettes. It wasn’t even in the ‘90s. In fact, it came out last year.

The survey details paint an ugly picture. Get pregnant and you’re not a preferred candidate for employment. The same goes for getting a promotion. There remains on average an 18.4% gender pay gap in the UK. No amount of leaning in is going to get past those facts.

Many businesses see women being away from the workplace as a potential loss. And on paper they aren’t wrong. Maternity leave is a period when a member of staff will be paid to be elsewhere. It’s not ideal for a workplace trying to profit. Jobs need doing and workplaces carry on around the clock, but women shouldn’t suffer as second best because of this. Pregnancy is how the world goes around – this is life. So when will this discrimination end?

As a female I know I want children in the future, but I’m worried about not securing my dream job because I’m a woman with a desire to have children. Being female shouldn’t mean having a choice over whether to excel in your career or start a family. A lot of women who make it to the top have done so with sacrifice. But many regret this in later life.

Working women need protection, a third party consultancy to solve any unfair disputes which are commonly being overlooked. More government involvement to investigate unfair woman dismissals. Either way something must happen. Every woman has the right to a career and every woman has a right to a family.

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