Almost half of women think motherhood not worth financial cost
Australian women universally agree they are making financial sacrifices when choosing to enter motherhood, with almost half of women agreeing it isn’t worth it.
91 percent of Australian women acknowledge that taking themselves out of the workplace to have children has an effect on their financial position and constitutes a financial sacrifice to them, according to a new poll conducted by the Heat Group.
Whilst almost half of the women polled agreed the financial sacrifice of motherhood was not worth it, Gillian Franklin, Managing Director of the Heat Group asked why women were still being forced to bear the brunt, particularly when the costof motherhood not only affected the individual but the whole economy.
“With a staggering 62% of women stating motherhood had a long-term effect on their financials and 12% of women simply opting not to have children at all because of the financial concerns, surely we should be exploring options that lessen the impact on our economy. One option is tax-deductible childcare to give women the incentive to return to work and be an active participant in the economy.”
The poll also found that 92% of women compensated their reduced earning ability with a drop in spending, substituting with cheaper brands and saving less. Only 4% of women believed that their partner’s income could cover any loss of their wage incurred by motherhood.
“This Mother’s Day I encourage Australians to consider how we can better support mothers, including the provision of paid maternity leave being considered an investment in business’ performance not a cost.”
“There can be no argument that businesses benefit from staff longevity, retention of intellectual property and a team that is proud and motivated. These are some of the many benefits of supporting women as they grapple with the challenges of raising children,” said Gillian Franklin, Managing Director of the Heat Group.
Very true. This is a huge problem with our economic system which has gotten much worse as the economy has geared itself around the two-income family over the last 20 years.
I do think that the fact that it’s still seen as a women’s issue is part of the problem. I have still not met another guy like me who put his career etc on hold to raise children. I’m sure they’re out there, but so few. I wonder if it will ever change before the gendered divison of childcare shifts.
It doesn’t *have* to be the woman who’s career suffers. I took time off (though not as much as my wife) when our 2 kids were born so that her career wasn’t as badly impacted, and so I could be a father to my boys. That it’s common for the woman to bear the brunt suggests that either partnership decision-making power is generally weighted in favour of the father, or that women *choose* to take the hit. I don’t have the data to say either way, I suspect it’s a decent bit of both.
On the solution: despite getting loads of middle-class childcare welfare, I’m not really sure more of that is the answer. The line that businesses value employee continuity just doesn’t hold water: if they did, they would be prepared to voluntarily pay long term mat leave, provide child care etc. Reducing the impact of childbirth on women’s careers is purely a social, not economic, goal. It’s a goal I happen to agree with, but trying to base it in economics rather than social improvement is flawed, and will send us in the wrong direction.
Are you kidding? You don’t think your children are worth a sacrifice…spending a bit less on yourself and having less money in the bank? If you feel that way why have children at all?
Woah. Children are not worth the financial sacrifice? That’s absolutely ludicrous. Surely these women have, for hte most part, a partner involved in this situation and surely they would have discussed their joint financial position before making the decision to start a family. Children are, let’s face it, the responsibility of both parents.
I agree with Ben that there is very little evidence of business valuing their long term employees and capitalising on the great talent that’s out there. If organisations were more flexible in their approach to job sharing (which must be a 20 year old concept by now and is still struggling to get traction) and creating more flexible work conditions like telecommuting (I remember all the articles on this brave new concept when my eldest was born 11 years ago – still not a very common practice) that would go a long way to helping families create the kind of nurturing environment that works best, one where every member of the family is valued for themself, and also to creating a pool of talented employees.
There are plenty of women out there who are savvy enough to negotiate terms with their employers or decide to make their own destiny through self employment to show that the options to combine work and family are definitely there.