As Mother’s Day approaches, how women are still being penalised for having children

They may even be the recipient of a bottle of prosecco or a box of their favourite chocolates and earnest promises of help with the housework. But by bedtime tomorrow, life will be back to normal for Scotland’s mothers. And it’s a hard life.

My two sons are now men in their 40s, but I still recall with a shudder my failure at trying to successfully combine full-time work with my responsibilities as a single mother. I couldn’t do both well, and they were the ones that suffered.

My eldest still teases me about the awful day that I forgot he had an important exam, so stressed was I by an inconsequential issue at work. And my approach to housework was hit and miss. We lived in organised chaos for years, which my friends now find hard to imagine, given how fussy I am about my domestic routine.

I suffered financially too, as the first decade of my life as a working mother was spent in jobs with no pension provision. I traded long-term financial security for flexibility in my working hours.

Today, it seems nothing has changed. The average pension gap between men and women is estimated to be around £120,000. This is further exacerbated by the fact that women tend to live longer than men and are more likely to need care during in their later years. According to leading pension company Scottish Widows, women need more in retirement savings than men – at least another £85,000.

The financial disparity of motherhood is not just between the sexes. Women without children on average earn 11 per cent more than their peers struggling to bring up babies while holding down a job. And while the pay gap between men and women has narrowed considerably in recent years, there are signs it is starting to widen again. The Scottish Government’s latest figures show that men’s hourly earnings are increasing faster than women’s.

Motherhood affects job security too. Last month, campaign group Pregnant then Screwed released research which shows there has been a sharp increase in the number of women who lose their job while pregnant, during or when returning from maternity leave. The survey, carried out with Women in Data, suggests that across the UK as many as 70,000 women a year are sacked – a jump of 37 per cent from a decade ago.

The motherhood penalty is not just financial. A survey published this week by mental health company Calm suggests that Edinburgh is the worst city in the UK for maternal burnout – with more than half of the capital’s working mothers reporting that they have to take time off work due to exhaustion. Across the country, nearly 90 per cent of working mums complain of sleep deprivation, which is linked to increased anxiety and depression.

Is it any wonder then that a growing number of women choose not to have children? Scotland is experiencing its lowest birth rate since records began in 1855. In 2023, there were 45,935 live births, a two per cent decrease from 2022. The total fertility rate is now 1.3 births per woman, compared to 1.84 in 1976 when I gave birth to my first child. And the Centre for Population Change reports that since the late 1970s, Scotland has consistently recorded significantly lower levels of fertility than England and Wales.

This matters. Fewer babies mean a shrinking workforce with a smaller pool of young people entering the labour market. That in turns leads to sluggish economic growth and a strain on government finances as tax revenue shrinks.

And, as the ratio between non-working citizens (such as children and retirees) and those in work increases, the burden on the economy gets heavier. The Scottish Fiscal Commission has already warned that the current levels of tax revenue are unlikely to be enough to pay for the level of public services and pensions demanded by an ageing population.

Scotland needs its superwomen. Our economy cannot meet the current demand for better public services, nor will it flourish without the women who combine holding down a job – three out of four mothers work – with raising the nation’s future.

But it seems our labour market is still designed by men. Where does a nurse find affordable childcare that will cover her mandatory 12-hour shift pattern? Why are caring responsibilities still divided by sex?

When a mother finally loosens her apron strings after 18 years of bringing up baby, the chances are that within a few years she will be caring for an elderly relative. Our economy depends on dual-income households being the norm, yet it is women who largely carry the burden of parenthood and caring responsibilities while working – and pay a financial penalty for the privilege.

Breakfast in bed once a year is simply not sufficient reward for the sacrifice working mothers make for their family and the contribution they make to our economy. If we are to claw our way out of the stagnation that threatens to overwhelm our society, then we must properly recognise and reward the efforts of working mothers.

A box of Hotel Chocolat truffles is all very well, but what women need is affordable, flexible childcare, working patterns that respect family life, and men to take on their fair share of caring for the next generation and looking after the one that brought them up. Happy Mother’s Day.