Men are to blame for ‘motherhood penalty', says Mumsnet founder
Men are to blame for the so-called motherhood penalty and should be shamed for failing to do enough around the house, the founder of Mumsnet has said.
Justine Roberts, the founder of Mumsnet, said 'men are the problem' when she was discussing the barriers mothers face in returning to work, adding that she is 'happy to shame dads' for doing so little around the home.
Ms Roberts said: 'There is a problem in the home. When we ask our users about this, they say the mother is still taking on the bulk of the domestic responsibility. So 90pc of the interactions with the school, 90pc of the play dates being organised, 90pc of the holidays and the packing of packed lunches.
'Until that changes, we just have to accept that women are doing too much. They've also potentially got caring responsibilities the other way as well with ageing parents.
'In the end, whatever employers do, it's just not a fair equation. I think the single biggest problem is that and the way to solve it is to get men more involved. Part of that is cultural, part of it is shame and I'm happy to shame dads.'
The so-called motherhood penalty refers to the unequal share of childcare responsibilities taken on by women.
According to PwC, a woman entering the workforce is paid around 5.2pc less than a male counterpart on average. However, this widens further to nearly 13pc at the end of a woman's career, with PwC blaming the 'motherhood penalty' as a key driver.
Ms Roberts, whose parenting website has more than 9m monthly users and is considered one of the UK's most influential political forums, made the comments at an Open University event exploring how to get more mothers into work.
Employment minister Alison McGovern kicked off the event in Westminster by warning that 'having a kid still feels like setting a bomb off underneath your career'.
Ms McGovern said in order to reach the Government's goal of increasing Britain's employment rate from 75pc to 80pc, the rate for men would need to increase by just two percentage points, in contrast to eight percentage points for women.
In an attempt to get more mothers back into work the Department for Work and Pensions this week pledged to improve training for career coaches in Jobcentres.
A study commissioned by the Open University found that nearly two in five mums are concerned about the lack of flexibility in working hours when considering their careers.
The Government's incoming Employment Rights Bill, which will continue to be debated by peers this week, has pledged to increase rights for new parents and pregnant staff as well as a right to request flexible working from day one in a job.
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