Two-thirds of working mothers have stopped working or now work less, according to a new survey.
New research from TopCV, the world’s largest CV-writing service, has found that nearly two-thirds of working mothers have either stopped working (40 per cent) or reduced their hours (19 per cent) since the start of the pandemic.
TopCV surveyed 1,017 UK professionals to find out how the pandemic had affected their roles as workers and parents. Of the working mothers who were no longer working, almost a third said they either had to stop working or take a sabbatical in order to accommodate childcare. The remainder were forced to stop working due to redundancy.
The recent findings suggest that working parents are still not getting the flexibility needed to balance the demands of childcare with working life, despite earlier findings from TopCV revealing that increased flexibility is high on the list of employee wants for 2021.
Unsurprisingly, this lack of flexibility appears to be creating an ‘either-or’ situation, with the juggling act becoming unsustainable for many working mothers.
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Speaking about the new research, Amanda Augustine, careers expert at TopCV, said, “Nursery and school closures throughout the UK forced many working women to reduce their hours or resign in order to handle the overnight burden of home-schooling and childcare during lockdown.”
“Whilst our data shows that most working mums are eager to return to the workforce, many may be forced to choose between their careers and childcare unless more companies begin offering adequate flexibility policies and other benefits that support their evolving needs.”
“Though not a new problem, the lack of workplace flexibility experienced during the pandemic has eclipsed any progress made towards achieving gender equality in the workforce.”
“It’s in the best interest of organisations, across all sectors, to establish a ‘new normal’ during the post-COVID recovery by committing to providing benefits that better accommodate working mothers — starting with flexible work arrangements.”
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