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Official data show that women experience a significant reduction of around £65,600 in pay by the point their eldest baby reaches five, exposing the termed “motherhood penalty” that threatens their financial security.

Substantial and Enduring Earnings Reduction

Mothers in the UK experience a “significant and prolonged reduction” in their earnings after giving birth to a child, as they become less inclined to remain in paid employment, as stated by analysis.

The study found that mothers’ average monthly pay had dropped by forty-two percent, or £1,051 each month, 60 months following the birth of their eldest baby, relative to their earnings one year prior to the birth.

Total Financial Impact For Several Children

This equates to a forfeiture of £65,618 over a five-year period, based on the analysis, which monitored earnings data from 2014 through 2022.

Typically, there is an extra reduction of £26,317 after the birth of a second baby, and then a subsequent £32,456 after the birth of a third baby.

Women are being “punished for caring, sidelined at work, and assumed to just absorb the financial burden.”

“And, the more children you have, the deeper the decline. This isn’t a gentle drop - it’s a economic nosedive resulting in financial damage of over £100,000 for a mother of 3 kids.”

Catastrophic Impact on Living Standards

Analysts described the decline in income as “catastrophic for mothers’ well-being.”

“Income is freedom, and depriving mothers of that freedom because they became parents is nothing short of outrageous.”

Statistics show the unfair reality for mothers in the workforce, with demands for family leave policies to be updated into the 21st century.

“Tackling the motherhood price requires updating family leave rules into the modern era, making sure all parents and partners get adequate paid leave when they start as parents – we should properly support parenting together with employment, not in opposition to it.”

Existing Family Leave Policies

Shared family leave was established in 2014, permitting parents to split up to almost a year of time off, and up to over eight months of pay following the arrival or adoption of a baby.

But, participation has stayed minimal.

According to current regulations, mothers’ leave is compensated at ninety percent of a woman’s average weekly earnings for the first one and a half months, then falls to the lowest of either £187.18 a per week or 90% of the woman’s typical salary for 33 weeks.

New dads can take two weeks’ paid leave at a rate of either £187.18 a week or 90% of typical each week earnings, whichever one is lowest.

Government Review and Childcare Support

Authorities has pledged favorable steps from establishing flexible working the standard, to stronger safeguards for pregnant women and day-one paternity rights.

But with childcare funding for kids aged nine months old plus only just being introduced and childcare providers in some areas finding it hard to accommodate demand, there’s still a considerable distance to go before mothers are on an equal footing.

Recently, working parents who have an income below £100k a annually became qualified for 30 hours of government-funded childcare a week during school terms for kids from nine months old to four years.

The roll-out coincides with the early care industry faces recruitment and funding difficulties.

A survey revealed that ninety-four percent of childcare centers were expected to increase their prices for ineligible families.