Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) study shows that the gender wage gap grows year on year after childbirth as mothers in low-hours jobs see no wage progression. IFS research, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, shows that on average, women in paid work receive about 18% less per hour than men. The research also shows that the wage gap is smaller when comparing young women – before they become mothers – with their male counterparts. But the gap widens consistently for 12 years after the first child is born, by which point women receive 33% less pay per hour than men.

The IFS state that the widening of the hourly wage gap after childbirth is associated with reduced hours of paid work, but not because women see an immediate cut in hourly pay when they reduce their hours. Rather, women who work part-time lose out on subsequent wage progression, meaning that the hourly wages of men (and of women in full-time work) pull further and further ahead. In addition, women who take time out of paid work altogether and then return to the labour market miss out on wage growth.

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