Mothers Work!: How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work

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in 10 (50.5%) mothers work 30 or more hours in their usual working week (excluding overtime) compared with almost 7 in 10 (69.7%) women without dependent children.

Regular discussions with your employer (and safety representative if you have one) are important. This is because the risk of harm to you and your unborn child may increase at different stages of your pregnancy. that you’re entitled to paternity leave and that you’re taking leave to support the mother or care for the child You’ll need to give your employer notice that you want to take paternity leave. You should do this by 15 weeks before your baby’s due date, or within 7 days of being matched with a child for adoption.A study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) in 2001 found that when mothers returned to full-time work before their child was 5 years old, risks of loweroutcomes for their children increased. They suggested such children had lower educational attainment and more unemployment. The reason suggested in this report for these outcomes was that mothers would have less time for direct interaction with their children during these crucial periods. Respondents in this release are classified as parents if they have dependent children living with them in the same household. This may also include children who are being cared for by someone other than their birth mother or father (for example, guardians or foster parents). This analysis does not include parents whose children do not live with them, or parents whose children usually reside elsewhere (for example, with a former partner).

If you’re a baby’s father or the mother’s partner you’re entitled to 1 or 2 weeks of paternity leave when you and your partner have a baby. You can also take paternity leave when you adopt a child. If you want to take any of the shared parental pay, the rules are mostly the same as for taking shared parental leave. The differences are that before the 15th week before the due date (or placement date): The Families and Households publication also has useful information relevant to this release, including trends in living arrangements for families (with and without dependent children), people living alone and people in shared accommodation, broken down by size and type of household:

It is clear that there are potential negatives and positives relating to being a working mother. It is inevitable that lower levels of supervision provide more opportunities for undesirable behaviour. However, the positives are significant – especially for daughters and for women themselves. Mothers who are already working should not feel guilty, and can reduce stress on themselves by considering any possibilities for flexible working. The best way to safeguard against any negative outcomes, will still enjoying the benefits of the positive aspects is to ensure that your parenting is not affected. If a working mother is careful to continue to parent in an engaged and active manner, there are few meaningful negative consequences to working. This guidance applies to all pregnant workers and new mothers, including some transgender men, non-binary people and people with variants in sex characteristics, or who are intersex. If you’re agreeing a date with your employer, you’ll need to complete your leave within 56 of days of the birth or adoption. Telling your employer about your paternity leave In April to June 2019, three in four mothers with dependent children (75.1%) were in work in the UK. This compared with 92.6% of fathers with dependent children.