Effects of Parental Leave on Career Progression

I'll never forget when a top performer on the team, let's call her Sara, came to my desk almost a year ago. She had a warm glow about her, and I could tell before she even said a word the exciting news she was going to share. With a beaming yet nervous smile, she told me she was pregnant with their first child. In that moment when Sara shared the news, I could see a whirlwind of emotions across her face. The pure joy, and also the nervousness and the guilt she was feeling. Her mind was racing with doubts of whether she will be "mommy-tracked" - Will she be able to continue on her current highly demanding project? - Will she stop being considered for promotion in the upcoming cycle? - Will she have access to new opportunities? - Will she be perceived as not being ambitious? In other words, will she become a "liability" on the company's balance sheet? I'll admit, even the most well-meaning leaders can slip into this unproductive mindset and wrestle with whether she'll still be as "committed" and "dedicated" once Baby arrives. The scene is all too familiar of a hiring or promotion panels where the questions get discussed about the woman's ability, willingness and utility in the "current state". Pregnant women and new mothers are 50% more likely to get passed over for promotions. Studies indicate 43% of highly qualified women with children leave careers or off-ramp for a period of time. This is a brain-drain we cannot afford! How can leaders change that negative narrative and proactively prioritize supporting new and expecting mothers? First, neutralize any guilt. Make it clear, from the outset, that her pregnancy & motherhood is something positive to be celebrated, not a hurdle or inconvenience. Assure her that this an exciting milestone, not a roadblock to her aspirations. Secondly, expect that she is committed through her pregnancy and will return to work. Create a plan and a structure for the leave and ramp up into the role upon returning to work. Finally, and most importantly, take a long term view of the person. Remember this - well supported mothers are driven, resilient, and loyal employees who outperform their peers on several metrics important to companies. The company's success depends on creating high performing engaged team - don't lose sight of that. This approach enabled Sara, and countless other women in my experience, to return energized with renewed purpose and advocacy other working parents. The corporate world is long overdue for an attitude shift around this topic. With open minds, flexibility and ardent cheerleading, we can build vibrant workforces that retain and celebrate parents. Because trying to sideline half the workforce is just bad business! #LeadWithLove Shreya, Sattwika, Shwet, Neelima, Svetlana, Anuja, Elakshi, Rohini, Mrunali, Dipita, Nalina, Anjali, Neeti, Jui, Akanksha, Francesca, Priya

When men have children, they are rewarded for it with higher titles and higher salaries. When women have children, they are penalized for it with lower salaries and lack of career progression. There are a variety of factors at play: - women are generally the ones taking parental leave which can cost them months or years of progress in their careers - women take on the greater burden of responsibilities for childcare, transportation, school events, etc. - this is all exacerbated by the rising cost of childcare meaning that some families may decide that it just makes more sense for someone (usually mom!) to step back from work. Whether it's intentional or subconscious, employers can hold this against their female employees. "Maria just got married, she'll probably start a family soon and we can't handle a parental leave, let's hire Marcus instead." "It's great that your son made the travel soccer league, Trisha! I know when my son did travel league a few years ago, it was practically a full-time job for my wife. I hope you're not going to need too many days off for all those games!" "Antoine sold $1.2M last year while Janine was only at $900k. I know she was out 4 months for parental leave but he still sold more. Let's promote Antoine." This dynamic isn't going to get better any time soon: childcare costs are rising, schools are seeing shortages that are impacting transportation - these are all responsibilities that can fall on parents (and disproportionately, moms). There are things employers can do: 1. Rethink those strict RTO mandates - remote work or flexibility around start times can give families more flexibility and make it easier for them to accommodate curve balls in their schedules. 2. Check for biases in your thinking - if you find yourself making assumptions about what someone's commitments may look like based on anything other than the evidence they've shared, that's a bias. 3. Offer parent-friendly benefits - backup care, childcare partnerships, lifestyle budgets that can offset childcare expenses, and childcare FSAs are all ways to make your workplace more parent-friendly. 4. Conduct analyses on compensation and promotion rates to see if there are gaps between moms and others. The reality is that we don't have any viable solutions in the short-term to address the cost of childcare or the shortages in our schools, and budget cuts to our schools will only make this worse. So I hope workplaces will recognize this inequity and consider ways they can make their workplaces not just more parent-friendly, but more mom-friendly.

They offered me enhanced parental leave… then punished me for coming back. We celebrate companies with “family-friendly” benefits. But behind the policies, the culture tells a different story. → Parental leave… but you return to a role that’s been stripped of its power → Period leave… but no one dares take it for fear of being seen as “less serious” → Pregnancy… but symptoms must be hidden so you don’t seem “fragile” → Paternity leave… but no one asks the dad how he’s really doing → Breastfeeding… but you skip after-work drinks to pump and miss out on career-defining chats → Work socials… but you need to make school pickup, so you’re seen as “less committed” → Pregnancy loss leave… but the grief is expected to vanish the moment you return I miscarried at work — and had a meeting straight after. I returned from a high-risk pregnancy and was handed reports to read — because no one knew what to do with me. I’ve worked through painful stomach and butt cramps — trying to keep a straight face, terrified of how my period pain might affect how I’m perceived. These aren’t rare cases. They are everyday realities. Policies don’t build culture. People do. Policies attract talent. Culture decides if they stay. And far too often , we leave. → 1 in 3 women exit the workforce after having a child. → 85% of working mums face discrimination. Not because we’re less ambitious. Not because we’ve changed. But because the system hasn’t. Let’s make the invisible load visible. Let’s make it impossible to ignore.

A new report reveals the hidden career penalty women face in accounting in the UK. 42% of women with kids 5-9 say being a parent is their primary barrier to advancement. Another 41% say time off for childcare is an obstacle. The rates are way higher than for male counterparts. It's not about ambition. 71% of women with young children still believe they can reach senior positions. 81% of mid-career women say they have a lot to offer. The problem is structural, not personal drive. One woman was promised partnership before maternity leave. It got deferred while she was out, then deferred again when she returned "to see if she could cope." Nearly 70% of mid-career women worry that working from home will hurt their careers. Many firms have flexible work policies on paper, but the culture hasn't caught up. Women get questioned about their commitment when they actually use the flexibility. Evening networking events create impossible choices between career and family. The result? A quiet exodus of talented women to smaller firms, public sector, or self-employment. Read the full report findings: https://lnkd.in/gzx_f5SA

The harshest career penalties are often the least visible. You don’t have to lose your job to be penalized for taking parental leave. The real penalty is often quieter. It looks like:  😞 A high-profile project reassigned “while you’re out” - and never returned 😞 A promotion that slows down, even though your performance didn’t 😞 A manager who stops seeing you as the “obvious choice” for the next big opportunity No one says it out loud. It’s rarely documented. But the impact is real. This is how ambition quietly erodes. Not because someone lost interest - but because someone lost momentum. If companies want to retain top talent, they need to build systems that protect momentum - not just job security. Because the goal isn’t just coming back ... it's coming back strong.

Return-to-work following a parental leave is often one of the most fragile moments in an employee’s lifecycle — and one of the easiest places for companies to lose people without realizing what drove them away. We recently worked with a company that took a hard look at how employees were reentering after leave. Specifically, how quotas, ramp timelines, and bonus compensation were handled. Surface level, everything looked good enough. This wasn’t being flagged as a major issue internally. But when we mapped the landscape across the organization, a different story emerged. Across multiple business units, a meaningful number of employees were returning from leave and being expected to perform as if nothing had changed. Quotas snapped back immediately, bonus eligibility wasn’t adjusted based on time away, and there was no real runway for reintegration. They weren’t intentionally penalizing caregivers, but it was quietly happening nonetheless. So they made the decision to change the system instead of asking individuals to absorb the impact. They rewrote the policy: ramped quotas became standard and bonus compensation was protected during reintegration. They chose to recognize that leave is a predictable part of a long, healthy career. Caregivers — not forced to choose between family and future — stayed instead of making a quiet, costly exit. Top talent returned from leave and continued growing with the company. A lot of companies are losing experienced, loyal people at or shortly after the return-to-work moment. But their employees don’t lack commitment. The system often just makes it harder to stay than to leave. Some organizations are fixing this now. Others will feel it later — in attrition they didn’t expect and roles they will pay heftily to refill.

New research from the Harvard Kennedy School by professor Ursina Schaede highlights a career tradeoff many families underestimate: reducing paid work after childbirth can carry major long-term financial consequences for mothers. Key takeaways: • What looks “financially neutral” in the short term (especially when childcare costs rival take-home pay) is financial detrimental over a lifetime. • This analysis of women teachers in Switzerland found that moving from full-time to part-time work after having children was linked to a 35% drop in lifetime earnings. Retirement savings were reduced by 43%. • This study highlights the “hidden costs” of career interruptions and the importance of taking the long view when making career decisions. https://lnkd.in/e5XHKf6s 

[Note to leaders] Motherhood and Ambition Are Not Mutually Exclusive My DEI work was prompted by my dismay at realising in 2015 that fantastic women who had started with me in tech had either quit the sector disappointed by the lack of promotions or been given unappealing jobs when they came back from maternity leave. So, I was very pleased when yesterday I found an article published on Chief entitled “Motherhood and Ambition Are Not Mutually Exclusive. Can Ramp-Up Programs Be the Solution to Retention?” that stated what I’ve known all along Motherhood doesn’t suck professional ambition out from women. The strict workplaces and fixed career ladders do. “In a 2022 survey of 2,000 employed moms with young children, 35% said it was hard for them to regain their footing at work after being away. And though 57% missed being at work while on leave, 55% of moms also had a hard time not being around their child.” Moreover, “54% of working moms are more motivated than ever to continue their career ascension.” There is something I disagree with in the article, the estimation that the “motherhood penalty" costs women 4% in salary for every child they have. I’ve had discussions with many women about the impact of children on their careers. The real impact is about 20-30% per child. And that’s not a “thought”. Some of them were on the same career path and with similar salaries that their partners but as soon as their first child arrived all changed. - Moving from full-time to part-time  - Their managers’ benevolent sexism excludes them from the kind of challenging initiatives that are the path to a promotion. - As their career has taken the back seat whilst that of their partner progresses, they often have to relocate and/or change jobs to accommodate the demands of the most professionally successful partner in the relationship. If you’ve been impacted by the motherhood penalty, I’d love to know how much you reckon has been the financial impact. #GenderedWorkplaces #GenderPayGap #GenderEquality #GenderEquity #WomenInTech #WomenInSTEM #WomenInBusiness https://lnkd.in/euW9Kmsh

Deloitte has been charged with parental leave discrimination. You might think the discrimination is a boss complaining about leave or a manager requesting for someone to come back to work early after the birth of a child. That's pretty common. But this discrimination is actually hidden in a formula for employee performance. Joanne Barela is the employee in question. She's done a great job and over 13 years was promoted from Consultant->Senior Consultant->Manager->Senior Manager. She got "Exceptional" and "Strong" ratings and was a high performer. She took approved leave for the birth of her children in 2020 and 2024, and even got a salary increase in 2025. Yet, by December 2025 she was terminated because her performance was not up to par. Why did this happen? Employees who take any type of parental leave are compared directly to their counterparts who worked a full 12 months. Since promotions are based on last year's numbers, that left her at a disadvantage, and ultimately fired. No one thought through the system that directly penalizes those who have children and take their leave. That's exactly why we advocate for HR to be an integral part of your business. It's why over the last 25 years HR skills have turned into business skills, touching processes, finance, operations, and business development. Make sure HR is embedded in your business and catch problems like discriminatory formulas before they become a lawsuit. Remember, intent is irrelevant in cases like this. #ParentalLeave #PerformanceManagement #HRStrategy #KandorGroup

Motherhood, and indeed parenthood, should never carry a lifelong price tag. Yet frustratingly, it does. Research shows that the earnings penalty associated with motherhood stretches across a woman’s entire working life: becoming a mother too often limits earnings, career progression, and choices. Around the world, in almost every country, women’s earnings fall significantly after having their first child, and ten years later remain lower than they would have been without children. Many women move into roles that offer flexibility and family-friendly policies, but often at the cost of lower wages and slower advancement. Meanwhile, men’s earnings and career paths remain largely unchanged after becoming fathers. For example, 10 years after having their first child, women are significantly less likely to be in the workforce compared to men. The child penalty for women is stark: - Australia 39% - Switzerland 33% - Germany 31% - UK 28% - US 21% - Japan 10% - Norway 4% These are insights from a brilliant tool by Economist Henrik Kleven, called the Child Penalty Atlas, a groundbreaking global project mapping the impact of parenthood on gender inequality in countries around the world. It shows the stark differences across countries and regions. These insights matter for organisations everywhere. Because talent should not come with a price tag for becoming a parent. Yet this is not only a women’s issue. It is a workplace issue that affects all families. Workplaces must evolve to support parents of all genders in balancing ambition and family life. We know that offering flexible work, fair career progression, and cultures that respect caregiving responsibilities is no longer optional. It is essential for retaining talent and building truly equitable organisations. Is your organisation addressing the parenting penalty? #GenderEquity #Motherhood #DEI #EDI