Niamh O’Reilly writes for the Irish Independent
When the popstar admitted that having children damaged her music career, she got a lot of flak for it, but she was just telling an obvious truth most mothers are afraid to say out loud.
We contribute with our findings from our Masters on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
This is a pup that women have been sold, that we can ‘have it all’. This may be the case, if
you have a village to support you and endless finances, but in general, women cannot ‘do it
all’. In our study, all the participants spoke about what one of them called the ‘Mother
Load’; the ‘double shift’ that women have to face on return to the home was instrumental in
the choice to leave the workplace and subsequently opt for flexible work.
Every one of the participants in our study took a cut in their salaries, benefits and pensions as a result of taking time out of work and working flexibly, resulting in a pay gap, as well as a gender pension gap and financial dependence ‘no running away money’.
In our company, EmployMum and EmployFlex, we receive calls and emails every weeks from
stressed out working Mums who are trying to ‘have it all’ At least once a week, there are
tears. It just does not make sense to force women into a workplace that was designed by men
for men who had women doing the domestic workload while they skittered up their career
ladder.
What we have found that helps mothers returning to work the best is:
Companies offering authentic flexible work such as reduced hours/remote and hybrid
work/flexible schedules /job share/ term time and annualised hours.
Companies leading with empathy and understanding.
Returnships for people who have been out of the workplace for a number of years.
Upskilling or retraining ( Springboard offer fantastic courses at a fraction of the cost).
Speaking to a good career or life coach to decide next career move and to help with
interview preparation and getting the head in the zone.
Finding a support group or a community of like minded Mums.
Networking – leveraging all the networks , online and in real life.
Update your main marketing tool, your CV and make it stand out from the crowd.
The value of women doing unpaid work in Ireland is estimated to be in the region of between
€2.1 billion and €5.5 billion. In return for doing this unpaid work, women have a gender pay
gap, gender pension gap and gender savings gap. Policy makers could explore workplace
interventions or policy to address these financial disparities. With a distinct lack of females in
senior levels in the workplace, politics and decision-making roles, government could assess
the need for gender quotas for senior roles in Ireland. We need allies , male and female to
speak up for Mothers who essentially do the most important job in the world. We need
organisations to embrace flexibility in the workplace and to help women to stay working
Without them, the world will stop turning.
Read the full article here