The arrival of a baby can often mean a career break or a transition to self-employment or part-time work for mothers. Compare this to fathers who usually continue in formal, full-time employment when they have a family.

In 2019, nearly 42 million adults in the EU lived in households with at least one child aged six and under. Only 32% of them (13 million) lived in households where all adults were working full-time. The person not working full-time, or at all, is still primarily the woman.

The implications of either taking a career break or only working part-time for a number of years include potentially lower wages, also known as the motherhood wage penalty, and a potential deterioration of skills due to being out of the workplace for many years and missing out on training and development opportunities.

A RAND Europe study explores how young parents in the EU could be encouraged to return to work following the birth of a child and highlights the factors that affect parents—and especially mothers'—decision to do so. These range from personal and household characteristics, such as level of education, number of children, and the availability of a support network, to prevalent societal attitudes about gender roles and the distribution of unpaid care work among men and women. A determining factor also includes working conditions, for example, access to flexible working.

Retaining women in the job market has always been a goal, even during times of relative prosperity. It has now become more pressing with the economic crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. We know that more women work in sectors most affected by lockdown measures (like hospitality). Mothers, therefore, have taken the brunt of job losses compared to fathers. Mothers have also provided more childcare and home schooling during lockdown.

Read the full article about KEYWORD by  Michaela Bruckmayer and Joanna Hofman at RAND Corporation.