Editorial TeamWomen in business who are mothers struggle with networking.
Nearly half of stay-at-home moms plan to network with other professionals to find new jobs. But unfortunately, 1/3 of them don’t have contacts.
Women in business who are mothers are handling parenting on their own.
Single parenting is on the rise. In 2018, 23% of children were living with a single mother. Even in married, two-income households, women are three times more likely to be the spouse carrying the additional “mental load” of household responsibilities.
Women in business who are mothers worry about being penalized in the workplace.
42% of women worry motherhood will negatively impact their career trajectory or leave them unable to advance as quickly as their peers. Women also are more likely to take on elder care and other care-taking roles. More than 25 million women care for family or friends in the U.S., per The Hill. More than 70% of working mothers and fathers say women are penalized professionally for starting families.
Almost three-quarters of moms — and more than 70% of women without children — say mothers are offered fewer opportunities to move up the ladder than childless women. 82% of working moms cite barriers keeping them from leadership roles. 78% say they have to prove themselves more in the workplace.
Women in business who are mothers are perceived to be less devoted to their careers.
More than 40% of U.S. employees say working moms are less devoted to their work. 38% judge moms for seeking more flexible schedules. As it affects their hiring and promotion, motherhood costs women $16,000 per year in lost wages. For every dollar a man makes, mothers make just 71 cents.
Women in business who are mothers have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the first round of pandemic-related layoffs cut more than 700,000 jobs. Women held about 60% of the jobs. Men were also more likely than women to be encouraged or told to work from home by their employer (26% to 15%) and fewer women than men were offered paid or unpaid leave by employers (11% to 20%).
Women in business who are mothers are still impacted by the motherhood penalty, despite remote work.
Women in the U.S. shoulder a disproportionate share of the unpaid caregiving workload. They are still an overwhelming majority (75%) of caregivers. Women are more likely to work their careers around children and make changes like taking leave, finding a more flexible job, or working from home. Fathers working remotely full-time are three times more likely than mothers in the same situation to make $100,000 or more.
Women in business who are mothers are valuable assets that companies need to retain.
Almost 85% of U.S. employees believe having working mothers in leadership roles benefits a business, employers care about working moms. The same percentage said motherhood helps women prepare for challenges they’ll face as a business leaders. People are overwhelmingly more likely to learn soft skills like kindness and empathy from their mothers than from their fathers.
Women in business who are mothers are often not tracked or included in their companies’ core demographics.
Over 70% of employees believe a caregiving support group or network and seminars or classes on caregiving topics is a benefit that would effectively help them perform their best at work. Over 80% of companies believe both would help them retain talent, yet just 16% offer seminars or classes on caregiving topics, and just 13% offer caregiving support groups or networks.
Women in business who are mothers are affected by the “distraction factor.”
Both employers and employees acknowledged that caregiving responsibilities affect employee career progression within their organizations. This “distraction factor” was especially true in young professionals with senior executive titles and who managed other managers. Nearly three in five women admit that care responsibilities are on their minds while they are at work, and employers care about working moms.
Women in business who are mothers are often forced to leave the workforce, and losing their talent can be costly for companies.
Over 60% of employees turn down a promotion due to caregiving responsibilities. Each such departure results in costs related to hiring and training a replacement or providing overtime to other team members.