Hire nanny and get back to work, new mothers are told
Woman boss: You’re not needed until child is older
NEW mothers should hire a nanny and return to work as soon as possible after giving birth, according to one of Britain’s most high-profile businesswomen.
Barbara Judge also warned that mothers who take long maternity breaks risk losing their job.
The American-British lawyer, the first female chairman of bosses’ group the Institute of Directors, said: ‘My mother used to say: When a baby is born it needs to be fed, bathed and diapered. An 18-yearold girl can do that.
‘Your job is to get the money to pay the 18-year-old girl. When you have to be there is when the child gets smarter than the nanny.’
In Britain women are allowed to take up to a year off, 39 weeks of which must be paid leave. But Lady Judge took only 12 days off when her son was born.
And addressing a conference in London for women in finance, she said she favoured the US system, where companies with more than 50 employees are obliged to provide only 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave.
The 69-year-old, who has held a number of executive positions in industries from banking to energy, said: ‘I know it’s counter-cultural but I think long maternity breaks are bad for women.’ She described how one of her friends lost her job after taking a year’s maternity leave. She told her friend she was ‘mad’ to take so long. When the financial crisis hit three months after her friend returned to work, ‘the first job they cut was hers’.
She added: ‘Why? Because her boss had been doing her job for a year. They realised they didn’t need her.’
Lady Judge added that making a good impression in the work place is ‘70 per cent about looks, 20 per cent about how you sound and only 10 per cent about what you say’.
Her comments about maternity leave angered women’s groups, which pointed out that most women could not afford to employ full- time nannies even if they wanted to return to work.
Laura Perrins, the co- editor of the Conservative Woman website, said: ‘Women shouldn’t be shamed for wanting to look after their babies. This is part of the elitist feminist agenda and their war on motherhood. Society should be supporting new mothers when it comes to nurturing their infants.
‘Maternity leave was a hardfought battle that has been won for British mothers and is the envy of many women, including those in America.’
The Iod distanced itself from the comments, arguing businesses have a ‘legal and moral duty to support parents’. A spokesman said: ‘The Iod advises all of its members to do everything they can to make sure having a family is never a barrier to career progression.’