as people enter their 30s and have children, women tend to drop to part time or reduce their level of commitment to work.
But don't you think this is often because it's expected of women with children, @NoIDontWatchLoveIsland? If you have a partner, have they also chosen to work less? If not, is that because they're the higher earner?
There are layers and layers of societal discrimination that leads to the "choices" we make – from the academic choices girls make to the jobs we choose (and how much they pay) and the hours we work.
The point about discrimination is that it all comes back to choice. Of course, if we choose to work less and earn less that's fine, but if we are forced to earn less because no-one else is going to pick up the slack on the domestic front, it is not. Even less so if all women's choices are assumed by other people (usually men) and those who have made the choice not to have children are punished.
Men don't (usually) have to choose between having children, or a good salary. I'm going to hazard a guess your boss hasn't, OP.
I want to caveat this by saying it goes the other way too. I'm sure a lot would like to work less and spend more time with their families, but feel societal pressures stand in the way of that. It will never be "fair" unless flexible working is afforded to all, regardless of whether they have children or not.