Effects Motherhood Has on a Woman's Career Life

Mothers with careers face new challenges that other co-workers do not. Mothers will feel stress from the separation from a newborn during the day and may have more absences during her tenure. If it has been more than two years since the mother has been in the workforce, the mother will face potentially incorrect employer perceptions and may receive lower wages, especially if the mother has not kept up on her workforce skills.

Employer Perception
According to a study done by Cornell University to determine if mothers faced a "motherhood penalty" for being working mothers, the study found that mothers were perceived as less competent and dedicated at work because of their responsibilities at home. Because of this, during the study, the resumes that were sent out indicating that a woman was a mother, received less requests for interviews than women who didn't.

Stress
Stress from being away from the newborn can fill a new mother with anxiety. Even after a period of time, when she learns to manage the natural swing of emotions associated with working away from home, she can experience worry in the back of her mind wondering if she will have to take off work unexpectedly due to the child being ill. This added stress can affect working relationships with her co-workers or her work production.

Absences
A mother may have more absences than a woman without children because children can become ill. If the child requires antibiotics, many states do not allow the child back to school or day care until after the child has been on antibiotics for at least 24 hours. If the child does not need antibiotics, the child cannot return to day care or school until fever, vomiting or diarrhea subsides for a full 24 hours. This means mothers in the workforce are forced to be absent during this time even if the mother is perfectly capable of working. Many corporations do not offer paid or excused absences for these circumstances as allowable under the Family Leave Medical Act until the mother has been employed at the corporation for one year. Trying to balance these things can cause a mother to potentially lose the job that may support her family.

Lost Wages
Depending on the age of the child when the mother returns to work, mothers can experience a further loss of wages as a result of being restricted to only certain available jobs. The jobs a mother may have to choose from first have to fit within her allowed scheduling availability, especially if the mother does not have childcare. The jobs the mother can take, based upon economic availability may not pay as well as jobs the mother may be more qualified to do.

Sources:

Katy Abel, The Price of Motherhood: An Interview with Ann Crittenden, Family Education.com

Cornell University, Getting a Job: Is There a Motherhood Penalty?, University of Chicago.edu