Mothers’ pay hit if they work part-time, new research finds

Mothers are being hit by a “pay penalty” if they work in part-time jobs, according to a new study.

Mothers tend to spend more time in part-time employment, so they do not benefit from pay rises associated with more experience, research found.

By the time a first child reaches the age of 20, mothers earn around 30% less on average than similarly educated fathers, said a report funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and published by the Institute of Financial Studies.

Some of the gap is explained by mothers in part-time jobs or taking a break from work altogether, said the report.

The overall gender wage gap has fallen from 28% to 18% since the early 1990s for the less well educated, but has remained at 22% for the highest educated, the study reveals.

Even before they have children, women earn around 10% less than men, but the gap increases “rapidly” for many after they have children.

Monica Costa Dias, IFS associate director, said: “There are many likely reasons for persistent gaps in the wages of men and women which research is still investigating, but the fact that working part-time has a long-term depressing effect is an important contributing factor.

“It is remarkable that periods spent in part-time work lead to virtually no wage progression at all. It should be a priority for governments and others to understand the reasons for this.

“Addressing it would have the potential to narrow the gender wage gap significantly.”

Robert Joyce, IFS associate director, added: “It is now the highest-educated women whose wages are the furthest behind their male counterparts, and this is particularly related to the fact that they lose out so badly from working part-time.”

Sam Smethers, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, said: “What this study shows very clearly is that as a society we are not doing enough to value women’s talents.”