Mums pay a “motherhood penalty” where their earnings fall by an average of 55 per cent in the first five years of parenthood, new Treasury analysis has found.
“Furthermore, highly educated women experience a larger penalty, despite the higher opportunity cost of reducing their participation − suggesting again that choices around work and care are not always responding purely to financial considerations.” Ms Williams, who was already caring for two step-children part-time before giving birth to her daughter, said she would have left her “family friendly” public-sector role for a leadership position at a not-for-profit years ago had she not had children.
Treasury said Australia had conservative gender norms and a high motherhood penalty relative to other countries surveyed.
My friend & I work similar career paths (together) for 30 years now in large corps. She had 2 kids while I kept working. My super v hers is a massive difference. How can you fix that if you stop contribution? She earns what I do so not wage - all compounding.
This is a slap in the face and undermines the truly critical and underappreciated work that mothers do in raising children. There cannot be a value placed on the work that these mum's do, and to suggest that they should reenter the workforce to compete with men is a discrace.
And so immigrants come in and leave their babies behind in country of origin to fill in