Pay: working fathers gain, working mothers lose (in general)

[grimbletart]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36126584

In general, working fathers get a pay bonus, working mothers get a pay penalty.

Plus ça change etc etc…….

The reasons due to 'more hours worked, more effort and positive discrimination'.

In other words, they have a handy woman at home to do wifework in comparison to the working mothers doing the wifework in addition.

Presumably the men are 'committed providers' vs flaky unreliable female employees with their minds on their family rather than work.

Two passages jumped out at me:

"It also referred to a study which suggested there was a "long-term scarring effect" on the future earnings of women who initially take on part-time responsibilities when they return to work after maternity leave."

"While mothers working full-time were on average found to have suffered a "wage penalty" compared with their childless female colleagues, older mothers were said to be paid 12% more. This was said to be because woman who gave birth when they were over 33 often had already developed their skills and were more likely to return to full-time work soon after maternity leave."

Is there an underlying point here in terms of, when deciding whether and how long at stay at home after a baby is born, and which parent does it, there is more than current cash flow to consider?

In my profession pay and promotions are going to go to those persons who bring in fees and clients and meet clients' expectations, including meeting tight or unrealistic deadlines and who show commitment and loyalty.

A man who is the sole provider for himself, his partner and their children may well have a greater incentive than single people of either sex or a person of either sex who has a working partner.

Presumably the men are 'committed providers' vs flaky unreliable female employees with their minds on their family rather than work.

If you are the sole income earner for 3 or more people you probably are more committed than a part timer bringing in a second wage. If a project has to be completed within a certain time scale employees need to be available and present to work on it.

But it was in comparison to mothers working full time not part-time so no reason why they should be the 'second' income.

If you are the sole income earner for 3 or more people you probably are more committed than a part timer bringing in a second wage.

Bit of an assumption there. I know a few families where the part timer is the main earner (funny how a woman on the highest wage still ends up being the one to go PT) or where both parents work part time (are they both not committed to work?).

FWIW DH and I (both PT and on similar salaries) are finding he's having to fight to stay PT and not be given more responsibilities whereas I am angling for a promotion at the moment and find that every manager I've spoken to brings up my 'family commitments' and how that would interfere with my commitment to work. Considering DH already does all the popping out of work for a couple of hours for the school play or leaving at short notice to pick up a poorly child from school/nursery since he has the shorter commute I do think that gender roles have a big impact on how employers view you even if you don't actually follow those gender roles yourself.