Parenthood and job quality: Is there a motherhood penalty in the UK

TY - JOUR

T1 - Parenthood and job quality

T2 - Is there a motherhood penalty in the UK

AU - Jones, Laura

AU - Cook, Rose

AU - Connolly, Sara

N1 - Funding Information: The study reported in this article has been funded by the Nuffield Foundation (Project title: ‘Who can have it all? Job quality and parenthood in the UK’), but the views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily the Foundation. Visit www.nuffieldfoundation.org Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s).

PY - 2023/9/24

Y1 - 2023/9/24

N2 - Current research recognises the role of parenthood in contributing to gender inequalities at work. Meanwhile, there is a growing interest in job quality. We contribute to both these debates by analysing differences in job quality by gender and parenthood status, using data from a nationally representative UK household survey. We develop a 12-indicator, multi-dimensional measure of job quality and use this to analyse the combination and distribution of job quality attributes by gender and parenthood status. Our analysis shows that women and mothers are under-represented in high quality jobs and over-represented in poor quality jobs. While some mothers sacrifice career prospects for flexibility, motherhood is not always associated with more flexibility, and job quality disadvantages are multi-faceted. Working part time is a strong driver of job quality differences, suggesting that reduced hours after motherhood impacts on job quality in addition to worsening women’s pay. Job quality gaps are larger for mothers of school-aged children, pointing to the additional constraints of managing work and childcare around the school day.

AB - Current research recognises the role of parenthood in contributing to gender inequalities at work. Meanwhile, there is a growing interest in job quality. We contribute to both these debates by analysing differences in job quality by gender and parenthood status, using data from a nationally representative UK household survey. We develop a 12-indicator, multi-dimensional measure of job quality and use this to analyse the combination and distribution of job quality attributes by gender and parenthood status. Our analysis shows that women and mothers are under-represented in high quality jobs and over-represented in poor quality jobs. While some mothers sacrifice career prospects for flexibility, motherhood is not always associated with more flexibility, and job quality disadvantages are multi-faceted. Working part time is a strong driver of job quality differences, suggesting that reduced hours after motherhood impacts on job quality in addition to worsening women’s pay. Job quality gaps are larger for mothers of school-aged children, pointing to the additional constraints of managing work and childcare around the school day.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85172027045&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s11205-023-03214-6

DO - 10.1007/s11205-023-03214-6

M3 - Article

SN - 0303-8300

VL - 170

SP - 765

EP - 792

JO - SOCIAL INDICATORS RESEARCH

JF - SOCIAL INDICATORS RESEARCH

IS - 2

ER -