The Unspoken Struggle of Mothers

The Unspoken Struggle of Mothers

I remember seeing the graph above (by Kleven, Landais, and Sogaard)for the first time in 2019 and wondering: Why did I never think of this? Allow me the spoiler. As we all know (but still haven't solved), there is a gap between women’s and men’s salaries, but this colossal gap, you see in the graph after having the first child, is because women stop working. Or they work part-time, or they start their own business, hoping it will allow them the flexibility needed to manage their family. Left and right, I see highly skilled women abandoning the workforce because they just CAN’T take it any more. And it is not just friends and family, I can also mention the cases of Jacinda Arden,? Sheryl Sandberg, Carolyn Everson, Marne Levine…. "Very Senior Level women who have decided to step down after years of climbing the corporate ladder", as CNBC explains in this article: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/21/why-youtube-ceo-susan-wojcicki-and-other-powerful-women-keep-quitting.html?fbclid=PAAaYg9-kJJoEZck_ogNGII7VOmO4gwW7ktroLj1iNgdlhB8t66i52o1dSEYI

When I was pregnant in 2017, I remember telling my manager I would be back after three months of maternity leave. Then I called him and asked him for two more months. And I called him again to ask for one more, making a total of 6 months of paid maternity leave.?

I returned to work, and after six months, I joined another company because I couldn’t get motivated anymore in my old job. And six months later, I quit my new job, stayed home taking care of my beautiful baby girl, and started learning a new profession that would allow me to be closer to her.?

First, let me express my shock when I realized I had to choose. Most women from western cultures have been raised and educated to be independent working women, myself included. I had been earning my own money and building myself a career in Tech, and suddenly…

Suddenly I felt deceived. The responsibility for my feelings is all mine, but if this article can help women know how they can potentially feel once they have their babies, please, allow me to do so. Many women return to work, leaving their babies home, feeling great. Many women go back to work because they have no other choice. And many quit their job: 15% in the UK. Or 43% in the US, where maternity leave is not mandatory.?

Findings on employment in the UK here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/familiesandthelabourmarketengland/2021

Paid maternity leave has proved three long-term benefits: One, less anxiety in pregnant women and new moms because they know that they can return to their jobs. Second, women who take longer than 12 weeks of maternity leave report fewer depressive symptoms and improvement in their overall mental health. Third, there is a significant improvement in children’s emotional and cognitive development.

Findings on parental leave in relation to mental health here: https://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2015/images/10/28/15-061_text.pdf

Despite numerous reports extolling its benefits, many countries still fall short in providing adequate maternity leave.

I bet we will have to pay for mental healthcare for these children what we don't pay for maternity leave. Maya Rosin, from the Department of Economics at Columbia University, found out that:

Maternal return to work within the first 12 weeks of her child's life is associated with reduced breastfeeding and immunizations and increased behavior problems in early childhood (Berger et al., 2005)... maternal work in the first year of life is associated with decreases in reading and math test scores at ages 3–11 (Baum, 2003)....

Full findings of Maya Rosin here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3698961/

Due to the length of this article, I will publish it divided into several parts during the next few days. If you would like to read the full article today, please click on the link:?

https://www.bareandbrave.com/post/the-unspoken-struggle-of-mothers