On Aug. 7, activists across the country observe Mothers’ Equal Pay Day, raising awareness for working mothers and the unique challenges they face. This day calls attention to the earnings gap between mothers and fathers and highlights workplace policies that are unfriendly to moms.
The date of Mothers’ Equal Pay Day each year represents the period of time it takes for mothers to earn the same amount as their white male counterparts in the workplace. This year, it arrives nearly five months after national Equal Pay Day was observed, which acknowledged the wage gap for women on average.
As a mother, rabbi and head of a women’s empowerment organization, I have witnessed the extent of mothers’ unequal pay. It persists from small nonprofits to Fortune 500 companies, from religious organizations to the food service industry. No profession is immune.
Unequal pay hinders moms’ ability to support their households and shortchanges them for their essential labor. Jewish tradition teaches: “You must pay out the wages due on the same day, before the sun sets, for the worker is needy and urgently depends on it” (Deuteronomy 24:15). As of 2021, over 24 million mothers of children under 18 are part of the American labor force, comprising nearly 15 percent of the total labor force. About a quarter of these women work in hospitals, schools and food services alone.
Mothers’ personal well-being and professional mobility are inextricable, and equal pay is the only way to guarantee they have both. We must commit to centering mothers as valuable members of our workplaces and scrutinize the policies that punish them for parenthood.
Mothers take more time off work than fathers to be with their young children—in part, a result of the unique health challenges they face postpartum. On average, women take off 54 days (about 2 months) of work for family leave—three times as many as fathers.
This medical necessity quickly morphs into a liability for many moms.
Across professions, pregnancy is the point at which many start to lose out on pay compared to their non-pregnant peers. The “motherhood penalty” refers to the abrupt decline in earnings for women who become parents. On average, mothers earn 63 cents for fathers’ one dollar.
When I was pregnant with my first child, I was working as a rabbi and a summer camp director. I am grateful that my supervisors encouraged me to take ample leave time after I gave birth. I spent three months at home with my son, bonding with him, learning to be a parent with my husband and trying to sleep when we could. As is the case with many people, until I needed paid leave myself, I had no idea that it was inaccessible to so many.
The United States is the only OECD country that does not guarantee paid family and medical leave. Only 13 states have passed their own paid leave laws. This means most mothers are losing money when they miss work to spend time with a newborn child, take care of sick family members or go to a doctor to be treated for postpartum mental health care. It shouldn’t surprise us that mothers who don’t have paid leave are more prone to “financial stress” and more frequently miss out on necessary health care due to its cost.
The motherhood penalty and its root causes, including unpaid leave, alienate mothers from the professional world while limiting critical income needed to raise a family. These structural issues leave mothers on the sidelines before they even make their way back to work.
When I returned to the office from family leave, I soon understood that my professional life would never be the same. I am fortunate to have access to ample paid time off and benefits, but I know many mothers do not have this luxury. I still navigate schedules, boundaries and even the occasional off-putting comment about my priorities.
Childcare costs compounded with other parenting responsibilities make traditional 9-to-5 jobs unattainable for many moms. Flexible work environments, including the option of remote work, enable mothers to navigate this balance more easily and pursue more competitive pay.
My current office went entirely remote in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we haven’t looked back. We can hire a more geographically diverse group of employees and offer flexible schedules to those managing family obligations. Although the flexibility inherent in a remote workplace was initially a necessity during the height of the pandemic, this policy has made our team stronger and reinforces gender equity. Mothers can better balance paid and unpaid work within their lives without the perceived penalty of taking away from “company culture.”
From pregnancy to the return to work, working motherhood should be a journey of triumph and adaptation, not one of loss and struggle. Our policymakers, employers and families all have a role to play in protecting America’s millions of working moms.
To prevent the motherhood penalty and address the gender pay gap, policymakers must guarantee universal paid family and medical leave. Legislation like the FAMILY Act would provide for 12 weeks with partial compensation, regardless of the employer.
Within our workplaces, employers must offer remote work opportunities, flexible scheduling options and more generous benefits—particularly paid time off. These adjustments ensure that motherhood doesn’t alienate women from their jobs.
Together, we must work toward a world where women can care for themselves and their children without worrying about falling behind financially, and where professional progress doesn’t come at the expense of a healthy, supported family. Mother’s Equal Pay Day is one “holiday” that I would like to stop observing. Together, we can make this aspiration a reality.
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