Concerned About How Parenthood Could Impact Your Career?

For many, parenthood is one of the most joyous and life-enriching experiences. However, couples should be cautious not to sleepwalk into the decision to become parents without first being aware of the probable impact of parenthood on a mother’s career and earnings, and a partner’s opportunity to share care with their partner. Knowledge is power – use this insight to predict the challenges that may arise and work out how to mitigate their impact on how you want to combine both of your careers with parenthood’s shared role.

Parenthood Is the First Time Many Millennials Will Experience Gender Bias at Work

In our experience, millennials are far less likely to experience gender bias in their early careers than previous generations. Women are successfully getting ahead and, in some cases, overtaking men in education and early careers. The gender pay gap just isn’t there when you’re in your twenties. It’s later in your career when it starts to show up. It is understandable why many millennials don’t predict that this position will change when they become parents.

We often find in coaching conversations that parenthood is the first-time millennial women experience gender bias, in the form of the “motherhood penalty”. This term is used by researchers to describe the impact that motherhood has on women’s earnings and career progression over the long-term. This topic is so pressing that Netflix released a 20-minute ‘explainer’ programme discussing it, highlighting how the persistence of the gender pay gap in today’s world ultimately comes down to women having children.