Gender pay gap increases substantially after childbirth, study finds

Differences in hourly wages between men and women remain very high due to the gender differences in rates of full-time and part-time paid work after childbirth.

Research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has found that mothers who work part-time after having children are most likely to suffer a wide gender pay gap. This is because women will likely choose to work part-time and build up less labour market experience than men since they have to juggle taking care of their children and their work.

This means that their pay progression usually slows down compared to that of their male counterparts. Experience gained from working full time will lead to higher hourly wages while that from part-time employment doesn’t. Highly educated women are especially affected since they would have seen the greatest progression otherwise.

The study also found that the hourly wages of female employees were about 20% lower than men's and that the gender pay gap widens significantly from the late 20s and early 30s.

While men’s wages usually grow rapidly at that age, women’s were more likely to flatten, usually as a result of the arrival of children. The gap then increased steadily so that by the time the child is aged 20, women’s hourly wages were about a third below men’s.

Yet the difference in hourly wages did not necessarily account for the whole pay gap, other factors could also be included such as women preferring family-friendly occupations rather than high-paying ones or being less keen on working at more productive firms.

The results of the study were released against a propitious political backdrop, with reducing wage differences between men and women high on Westminster's agenda and not only from the point of view of gender equality but also in order to address low pay and a lack of wage progression in general.

Researchers also found that poverty had become more a question of low pay rather than of unemployment. So that while female employment had jumped over the preceding 25 years, two-thirds of children living in poverty were in fact now living in a household with both parents employed.