Balancing work and family life has long been difficult for both men and women, regardless of family structure.
But mothers can face particularly large penalties for being in the workplace. New analysis from Bankrate That means you could miss out on more than $500,000 in earnings over a 30-year career.
The figures came as Bankrate’s analysis of Census Bureau Current Population Survey data found that mothers will earn 31% less than fathers in 2023, roughly the same percentage difference as in 2022 (32%).
The study also showed that lost wages could be “significantly increased,” amounting to about $500,000 over 30 years of work, assuming the mother’s income stays the same.
The survey comes amid other pressures on workers across the United States. Recent rise in unemploymentBut what’s behind this disadvantage to mothers, and what can be done about equal pay?
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The penalty of being a mother
According to a Bankrate analysis, full-time working mothers with children under 18 could expect to earn an average annual salary of $55,276 last year, while fathers made $72,280, resulting in mothers losing out by $17,000 a year.
The study also found that while women earn roughly the same as men when they are single and childless, they still start out earning less than men, and that this gap widens when women marry.
Meanwhile, single mothers with children under 18 earned $43,888, while single fathers with children under 18 earned $52,728, a wage loss of about $265,000 over 30 years.
Bankrate also found that dads who work full-time receive a salary bonus after their children are born.
Experts often talk about a “motherhood penalty” imposed on women who want to pursue a career after giving birth.
Part of the reason is the fact that women continue to shoulder a disproportionate share of caregiving and domestic responsibilities, which can force them to take on part-time work or leave the workplace altogether, impacting their career growth.
a Pew Research Report The 2023 survey found that while the proportion of women in heterosexual marriages earning the same or significantly more than their husbands has roughly tripled over the past 50 years, women continue to shoulder a heavier burden when it comes to household and caregiving responsibilities.
Meanwhile, the gender wage gap in the United States remains, with women working full-time They earn 84% of what men earn.
Progression to C-suite positions
This is happening despite women continuing to make significant progress in the workplace in recent decades. Women in the Workplace 2023 ReportMcKinsey revealed that the percentage of women in senior executive positions in the United States and Canada is at an all-time high.
But the report also found “slow progress” along the pipeline and that women of color remain underrepresented, suggesting the diversity problem is more widespread.
Globally, Grant Thornton At the current pace, pay parity for women in senior management positions is not expected to be achieved until 2053. Additionally, the percentage of female CEOs fell from 28% to 19% globally last year, and some female CEOs of major companies are citing caregiving responsibilities and other reasons for leaving the workforce.
From the “glass ceiling” to the “broken ladder”
To address the persistent gender gap for mothers in the workplace, it is important to dispel misconceptions about women and career progression in general.
As McKinsey found, These myths include Women have lost their ambition, flexibility in the workplace is something only women want, the biggest barrier is the “glass ceiling,” and microaggressions aren’t a problem even though women are more likely to experience them.
Experts told McKinsey that the biggest barrier to women’s advancement isn’t the glass ceiling, but the “broken ladder” — the first step to management.
Improving this stage, these experts say, involves companies examining the criteria for these early roles and encouraging a diverse range of people to apply, improving the chances that women will reach the C-suite level.
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Another factor that can affect women’s promotion is salary negotiations, which is particularly important given the motherhood penalty.
Recent Research – Women Ask Now: Calling for a change in perception about the gender pay gap – We now know that women negotiate their salaries more often than men. The problem is that women are turned down more often.
The study authors noted that outdated beliefs that women don’t negotiate may reinforce gender stereotypes, and as the Bankrate survey found, mothers may be especially keen to negotiate given existing wage disparities.
Things may be changing, but there are still challenges when it comes to women achieving equality in the workplace, whether they are mothers or not. However, unlike past decades, we now have greater insight into the causes of the problem, and there is no room for excuses in the workplace to solve it.
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