The Tax on Mothers: Reduced Hours, Lower Pay, Unemployment
The employment rates of men and women is always a concern due to disparities and how the job market often disadvantages women, particularly women with dependent children.
According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), the current global labor force participation rate for women is close to 49%. For men, it's 75%. That's a difference of 26% points, with some regions facing a gap of more than 50% points. That puts into perspective the gender disparity in the labor force.
In the UK, for example, even though the gender pay gap among full-time employees fell from 9.0% in 2019 to 7.4% in 2020, there is still a 20% salary difference between working fathers and mothers. Even in roles dominated by women they often earn less.
“Around the world, finding a job is much tougher for women than it is for men,” observes ILO. “When women are employed, they tend to work in low-quality jobs in vulnerable conditions, and there is little improvement forecast in the near future.”
With that in mind, the business comparison experts Bionic, wanted to find out where across the UK has the biggest pay disparity. Since 2000, fathers have also consistently had a higher employment rate than men without dependent children.
Employment rates of mothers across the UK
Bionic’s study revealed that Scotland and Wales have the highest levels of employment rates for mothers in the UK, with 77.20% of women reported to have children dependent on them whilst being in work.
In Scotland it works out at 18.67% more women with children dependent on them vs men with dependent children.
For Wales this discrepancy is smaller at 15.20%, but the highest percentage difference throughout the UK was between fathers and mothers in England.
Over 21% more mothers have dependent children on them in England vs fathers, a significant difference.
| Around the UK (2019) | Men with dependent children | Women with dependent children | Percentage difference between men & women in work with dependent children |
| Scotland | 93.10% | 77.20% | 18.67% |
| Wales | 89.90% | 77.20% | 15.20% |
| England | 92.70% | 74.80% | 21.37% |
| Northern Ireland | 93% | 75.70% | 20.51% |
Employment rates of mothers fall 20% lower than fathers
In April to June 2019 it has been reported that 3 in every 4 mothers with dependent children (75.1%) in the UK were in work. This is compared to 92.6% of fathers with dependent children.
Almost 3 in 10 mothers (28.5%) with a child aged 14 years and under said they had reduced their working hours because of childcare reasons. This is compared to just 1 in 20 fathers (4.8%).
| April to June 2010 to 2019, UK | Men with dependent children | Women with dependent children | Percentage Different for Men and Women |
| April-June 2010 | 88.60% | 67.80% | 26.60% |
| April-June 2011 | 88.90% | 67.40% | 27.51% |
| April-June 2012 | 89.80% | 68% | 27.63% |
| April-June 2013 | 90% | 69.30% | 25.99% |
| April-June 2014 | 91.30% | 69.70% | 26.83% |
| April-June 2015 | 91.10% | 70.80% | 25.08% |
| April-June 2016 | 92.30% | 72.10% | 24.57% |
| April-June 2017 | 92.10% | 73.80% | 22.06% |
| April-June 2018 | 92.80% | 74.20% | 22.28% |
| April-June 2019 | 92.60% | 75.10% | 20.87% |
Can the gender employment gap be bridged?
Glyn Britton, Chief Customer Officer at Bionic, offered some insight into what businesses can do to bridge this gap:
“As more businesses have been forced to adopt some form of remote working, more employees have come to appreciate the importance of a healthy work/life balance. None more so than parents.
If businesses want to attract and keep the best talent, they need to offer more than a competitive salary, and having attractive maternity and paternity policies in place can make all the difference for prospective and current employees.
As a minimum, mothers can take up to 52 weeks leave after giving birth, the first six of which must be on at least 90% pay. Fathers can take up to two weeks on the lower of £151.97 a week or 90% of their wages. If your business can offer more attractive terms, it could give you an edge over others.
“Other ideas include offering flexible, hybrid working and creating a maternity and paternity strategy to offer support and advice to parents. And, if you’ve not done so already, closing the gender pay gap will give the clearest indication of your support for equality in the workplace.”
Bionic’s analysts collated data from ONS to represent how the job market is affecting men and women.
