Mothers 'penalised' with smaller paycheques

Women may pay the price of opting to become a mother as they could be sacrificing the amount of money they would potentially be earning, it has been suggested.

Research from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has revealed that the gender pay gap dramatically increases when women enter their 30s.

Paycheques for women aged 20 to 29 are 3.3 per cent less than male professionals of the same age, however this gap widens to 11.2 per cent when workers of both sexes were compared in their 30s.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber stated: Despite girls outperforming boys at school and at university, too many employers are still failing to make use of women's skills.

Mr Barber remarked that women choosing to start a family are paying an unacceptable penalty.

This issue is bad for the economy and the government should provide better-paid part-time work, he added.

It's bad for companies too, as ClickAJob chief executive Yngve Traberg points out.

With a world-wide skills shortage in full swing, no organisation can afford to lose an employee with up-to-speed skills and understanding of company culture just because of a pregnancy, he says.

Far better to show her she's an asset and use technology to prove it, he continues.

Flexitime, split working hours, job share or linked-in networking from home are all options to keep a valued employee in place and demonstrate worth, he says.

There's another plus too. Most mothers already have commitment, how many applicants must you go through before you can replace that?