The motherhood gap

Apr 12, 2022 | Aviate, Navigate, News and Events, The Buzz

If 6% of commercial pilots are women, why do only 2-3% continue flying until mandatory retirement at age 65?

Women pay a price for seeking a more flexible job after having children.

The majority of the wage gap is created when women have their first child: they opt for maternity leave and, if they return to work, may choose a new position with reduced hours/fewer days to provide the flexibility needed to cope with parenting responsibilities.

Good legislation helps but won’t solve the problem – we need cultural change!

  1. Encourage men to take substantial and equal parental leave. This increases the likelihood women will stay employed full-time—in their chosen career—and builds bonds between a male parent and his child.
  2. Change expectations at work and at home regarding division of labor at home.

Sarah Kaplan writes “Ontario’s 1987 Pay Equity Act [which is further bolstered by the Human Rights Code and recent changes in the Employment Standards Act] is actually state of the art.”
So WHY DOES the WAGE GAP continue BETWEEN GENDERS?
“Pay transparency and pay equity legislation will never close the wage gap without also considering the promotions and advancement gap that women face because of expectations [from spouses and colleagues] they will be primarily responsible for care work at home.”

Read Sarah Kaplan’s September 25, 2018 article:

https://magazine.utoronto.ca/opinion/the-motherhood-penalty-gender-wage-gap-sarah-kaplan/

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