‘I’ve lost my job and am about to give birth’
Hundreds of pregnant women and new mothers are now victims of the crisis. Marianna Hunt reports
It’s supposed to be one of the happiest times of your life, but for many women being pregnant and going on maternity leave during the pandemic has turned into a nightmare. Hundreds are being told they’re losing their jobs while others are facing having to quit a career they love because they can’t get childcare.
With many schools shut until September, there has been a ripple effect on women’s lives. While the Government has made great strides in encouraging and supporting women back into work – and saw the country enjoy the economic benefits that came with that – post pandemic a different picture is emerging; one which many have warned could turn the clock back on women’s progress by several decades.
While, pre-pandemic, a record 75 per cent of women in this country had a job, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has found that, since lockdown began, mothers are almost 50 per cent more likely than fathers to have lost work, taken unpaid leave or volunteered to be furloughed, with women also more likely to be caring for an elderly relative as well as children.
Not only are women more likely to be working in sectors that have had to shut down during lockdown, including retail and hospitality, research has shown that many who are on or returning from maternity leave have also been illegally singled out for redundancy. One campaigner told The Daily Telegraph that at least 13 new or soon-to-be mothers lost their jobs each day last month.
Joeli Brearley of campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed said before lockdown it would usually get around 100 calls a month from pregnant women or new mothers facing issues at work. “Now it’s around 500 calls per month. About 80 per cent of the calls last month were from women who’ve lost their job,” she said.
That means they were contacted by 400 pregnant women and new mothers who were made redundant in June: around 13 each day. Those who do lose their job could be out of work for years, as Britain is predicted to tumble into its deepest recession for centuries.
Natalia, 36, lost her job as a designer in London at the end of May. She is now just weeks away from her due date and is very concerned about how she and her partner will pay the bills on just one salary.
The reason she was given for the redundancy was that the business needed to cut its costs in light of Covid-19. “The company wanted to move more work out to its other office overseas anyway. When I came back from my first maternity leave the company kept on the person they hired to cover for me.
“I didn’t feel welcome. No projects were given to me and I had to fight for everything. Of course costs will be tight if you hire two people to do the same job. All the same I was quite surprised, as it seemed as though coronavirus had given us more work than ever.”
She asked if the firm would keep her on the payroll, even if in a much lower-paid role, but was told no. “I then asked if the company could furlough me instead and that was refused too,” she said. She and her partner were supposed to be moving house, but after losing her job they are unable to get a new mortgage. “We are going to have to stay in our tiny one-bedroom flat with two young children. Our twoyear-old son will get the bedroom and we will have to sleep in the living room with the new baby.”
Natalia who was earning £37,000 a year before she was made redundant, is now worried that it will take a very long time to find a new job. “Who would want to take on a new mum of two now?” she said.
Another woman, who asked to be anonymous, was made redundant in June – two months before she was due to give birth. She worked for an events company and out of four members of staff was the only one to lose her job. The directors told her they thought it would be better for her to finish work and enjoy her pregnancy. “How could I enjoy my pregnancy more after being made redundant? It’s been a huge black cloud over what should be such a happy time,” she said. “Trying to fight with male bosses for my rights just as I’m nearing the birth date has been incredibly stressful.”
The company has agreed to keep her on the payroll until her statutory maternity pay kicks in, however, she said after that ended she would really struggle to find work in the events industry – one of the hardest hit. “They know that, too. I’ll probably have to give up the career I love and find a different job, if I can, to be able to pay my mortgage.”
Neither would be able to bring a claim for unfair dismissal. As it stands employers are able to make a pregnant woman redundant if it needs to cut down its employees.
Andrew Hunter of jobs site Adzuna said mothers who’ve been made redundant will find it particularly hard to find work. “The number of part-time jobs has halved since January. This is likely to unfairly impact women and mothers, who make up just under three quarters of part-time employees,” he said. “We need to see the number of part-time and flexible jobs improve quickly to support mothers while schools are closed and childcare scarce.”
Even before coronavirus, one in 20 women was made redundant while pregnant or on maternity leave, according to research by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. Many more have found that their maternity packages have been cut by their employers, blaming the financial pressures of Covid-19.
“Pregnant women and new mothers are the first to be pushed out of their job when a company is making cuts. There’s a perception they can’t be committed to their job if they are about to take some time out to care for a new baby,” Ms Brearley said. “These women will be collateral damage as the country descends into recession. Child poverty will increase and maternal employment rates set back decades.”
Protection against this kind of discrimination may be on its way soon. Tomorrow, former women and equalities minister Maria Miller will bring forward a Bill to stop employers from being able to make a woman redundant from the point that she notifies them that she is pregnant until six months after the end of her maternity leave.
‘Who would want to take on a new mum of two now?’
Read more about the Telegraph’s Equality Check campaign at telegraph. co.uk/equality-check/