Mothers face a “substantial and long-lasting” reduction in earnings after having children, new research has revealed.
A study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that five years after the birth of a first child, monthly earnings were, on average, 42 per cent lower – a loss of £1,051 per month – compared with income one year prior.
The deficit persisted across the study period (2014-2022 in England). Cumulatively, the ONS found a total earnings loss over five years averaged £65,618 after a first child, with an additional £26,317 following a second, and £32,456 after a third.
Part of this reduction was attributed to a decrease in employment. The most significant earnings drop occurred after the first birth, followed by sustained reductions for five years after each subsequent child.
Alice Martin, head of research at think tank the Work Foundation at Lancaster University, commented: “Today’s figures present the stark and unfair reality for working mothers in the UK.
“Government is aiming to ‘make work pay’, but women who become mothers face persistent and significant disadvantages in pay and progression.
“They are forced to trade job security and opportunities to manage early motherhood and ongoing childcare.”
Rachel Grocott, of campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed, said: “This new data confirms what mothers have known for decades: the moment you have children, your pay nosedives.
“This is the price that mums are paying – 42% of their salary – for five years after having their first child. It is completely abhorrent, and the more children you have, the deeper the drop.
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“It’s not a gentle decline — it’s a financial freefall resulting in financial loss of over £100,000 for a mother of three children.
“If men experienced this kind of penalty for becoming parents, we’d have fixed it years ago. Instead, women are punished for caring, sidelined at work, and expected to just absorb the cost.
“Is it any wonder that women are second-guessing having kids today? The cards are stacked so heavily against them that being able to afford kids is becoming a luxury.
“We need urgent reform – childcare that doesn’t bankrupt you, parental leave that makes sense, and workplaces that stop treating motherhood like a liability and instead flex their roles to help mothers to navigate the infamous juggle and start to tackle the motherhood penalty once and for all.”
