New research suggests 52% of mothers have faced some form of discrimination whilst pregnant, on maternity leave or when they have returned to the workplace.
One in every 61 pregnant women said their bosses suggested they terminate their pregnancy.
The research, which surveyed over 24,000 parents, was done by Pregnant Then Screwed, a charity dedicated to ending the motherhood penalty, and compiled by Women In Data.
It found that this level of discrimination doesn’t always come from managers. According to the data, 73% of mothers said that their colleagues made harmful comments about their pregnancy or maternity leave, and 74% of women said a colleague implied that their performance had suffered due to them being pregnant or on maternity leave.
These comments have even extended to how they looked while they were pregnant – 64% of expecting mothers said their boss or colleague had made inappropriate comments about their appearance.
Joeli Brearley, CEO and founder of Pregnant Then Screwed, said: “These stats show how far we have to go before mothers are truly accepted as equal members of the workplace. We know that women are treated differently from the point they get pregnant.
“They are viewed as distracted and less committed to their work, despite there being no change to their performance. This bias plays out in numerous ways, affecting women’s earnings and career potential. There is absolutely no excuse for bosses, who hold the power, to tell their employees to abort a pregnancy. It is sex discrimination and it is inhumane.”
Due to this, women have endured the long-term impacts on their careers, with 19% of mothers deciding to leave their jobs due to negative experiences.
Also, 10% of women said that they were either harassed or bullied when they were pregnant or deciding to return to work, with 7% even losing their jobs through redundancy, sacking, or feeling forced out of their roles due to health and safety issues or the lack of flexible working allowances.
“The bullying, harassment and aggression pregnant women experience at work has a detrimental impact on their mental health,” Brearley said. “The fact that the majority of pregnant women have experienced inappropriate and degrading comments from a colleague or their boss about the way they look is shameful. Why as a society do we accept women being a target for such abuse?
“These hurtful comments chip away at women’s confidence, their ambition and feeling of belonging. Pregnant women are made to feel like an unsightly burden, no wonder a high proportion of women report feeling depressed or anxious when pregnant and 1 in 5 women leave their employer after becoming pregnant.”
