A survey reveals that an additional 26 percent of working mothers had to reduce their hours for the same reason, and experts state that having supportive policies ‘on paper’ is insufficient, according to Isabel Jackson. 24 September 2024
A quarter (25 percent) of mothers are being forced to quit work so they can accommodate childcare, The Care Economy: Society’s Engine Room report by UN Women UK revealed.
According to the survey of 2,000 people, a further 26 percent of working mothers have unwillingly reduced their hours to make time for their caring responsibilities.
In contrast, just 7 percent of fathers surveyed unwillingly quit their jobs, and 8 percent reduced their hours to accommodate childcare.
Labour’s Plan to Make Work Pay: family-friendly policies
Mothers with children under five were even more impacted, with a third (33 percent) giving up work to look after their children. The proportion dropped to 29 percent of mothers of children aged five to 11 and a fifth (20 percent) of those with 12- to 18-year-olds.
Jemima Olchawski, CEO of the Fawcett Society, told People Management, “The few years that a mother spends looking after children is a tiny proportion of her working life, but the impact of caring responsibilities follows her into retirement. This must change.
“It isn't good enough to have supportive policies on paper; businesses must make these a reality in the workplace and create genuinely family-friendly cultures.”
Emma Spitz, parental transition coach at the Executive Coaching Consultancy, told People Management that women would also be impacted by remaining in roles with a “sticky floor,” choosing stability and the flexible nature of their current jobs over the potential opportunities of a promotion or new role.
“The loyalty and credibility they've built with their teams and clients make managing the intricate balance between work and caregiving somewhat easier,” she explained, adding, “The mental toll of caregiving is immense. How can we expect individuals juggling a demanding job and caregiving duties to have the capacity to pursue a promotion or navigate a job change? The higher up the ladder they aim to climb, the more challenging the process becomes.”
When women were asked about the reasons they were led to quit their jobs, two in five (38 percent) said it was more cost-effective for them not to go to work, three in 10 (29 percent) said their organization did not offer flexible working, and the same proportion (29 percent) said there was a lack of childcare places available.
“To remedy women’s careers paying the price for childcare, a cultural shift toward equal parenting is needed,” Jane van Zyl, CEO of Working Families, told People Management. “Employers can support this with equal parental leave policies and gender-neutral language, moving away from the assumption that the woman is the primary caregiver.
“For those employers that can, integrating childcare support into their benefits packages can have a huge positive impact for employees, as well as the organization’s recruitment and retention efforts.”
Emma Jarvis, founder of Dearbump, said employers had a “crucial” role to play in mitigating the impact of childcare responsibilities “by offering more flexible working arrangements, such as supporting remote working when it is requested, flexible hours where roles can be undertaken outside of core business hours, or part-time roles that truly don’t hinder career growth by their nature.”
However, Spitz warned businesses to ensure working from home does not further hinder women’s career advancement, saying, “The lack of face-to-face interaction deprives them of career-enhancing opportunities and networks that could support their growth.
“Furthermore, organizations with an ‘always on’ culture, which glorifies long hours and constant availability, are setting these workers up for failure.”
She said organizations should instead “embed inherent flexibility into their roles” and undergo a “mindset shift” to move away from cultures of presenteeism where being in the office is valued more than output.
The cost of childcare
A separate survey of 1,891 women with children aged 17 and under by Indeed Flex corroborated the findings, revealing that two in five (41 percent) found the cost of childcare was impacting their ability to work.
The survey follows the offer from September this year, put in place by the previous Conservative government, of 15 hours of free childcare per week for eligible working parents with children between nine months and three years—more than a quarter (28 percent) of women surveyed said they would like the number of free hours to be increased.
In total, fewer than half (47 percent) of the women surveyed were in full-time employment, with more than a third (36 percent) in part-time or temporary roles, and one in 10 (9 percent) not in any form of paid work.
Jarvis said that while the government’s measures to expand free childcare were a “step in the right direction,” more change was needed.
“There needs to be a wider availability of affordable, quality childcare and more support for parental leave, ensuring that both parents can share responsibilities equally without negatively impacting their careers or forcing them back to work earlier than they would like because of financial pressures,” she added.
Read the CIPD’s Focus on working parents report
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