Returning to work after having a child can be a daunting prospect for many new mothers. In fact, statistics from That Works For Me’s Careers After Babies report showed that 85% of women leave full-time employment within three years of having children, struggling to make full-time employment work alongside childcare.
On average, it takes women a decade or more to reach the same salaries and positions they held before becoming mothers. As a result, it’s up to employers to try and remedy this by providing robust support to new mothers. Here are our top tips for supporting mums at work:
Be flexible
Being a mother requires a certain amount of flexibility, as childcare needs change over time as the child gets older, as well as week-to-week with school holidays and other factors. Providing that flexibility will go a long way to keep working mums in the workplace, allowing them to continue providing value for your company.
These flexible jobs for mums may also come in the form of staggered or phased returns from maternity leave, allowing people to re-enter the workplace at their own pace, or working from home arrangements.
Provide childcare-based benefits
Offering benefits that subsidise childcare in some way is a great way to support and retain mums at work. From a workplace creche, a commercial arrangement with an existing nursery, or childcare vouchers. These also offer some tax or NI relief as well, helping parents with the inherent costs of having children.
Be understanding
Having a child is like another full-time job, and parents can often be exhausted before they even make it to work. Checking in regularly with all employees, and especially parents, will help you manage them much more effectively. If a new mother is struggling and needs flexible home working in order to better manage her workload, as well as her work-life balance, it’s up to managers to acknowledge this need and do what they can to facilitate flexible jobs for mums.
To learn more about women in business, you can listen to our podcast episode here.
