The so-called ‘motherhood penalty’ is well known: mothers have lower chances of getting a job compared to childless women. But why exactly? A new scientific publication by researchers from UGent @ Work, appearing in the upcoming issue of the prestigious Journal of Marriage and Family, sheds light on how Flemish employers view mothers… and fathers!

The researchers asked Flemish recruiters to evaluate five fictitious job candidates, resulting in a total of 2,260 evaluations. The candidates varied randomly in several characteristics, including gender, number of children, and the children’s ages.

“Information about parenthood was included under the ‘family situation’ section, alongside marital status, similar to previous research and in line with common practice. Moreover, a large portion of the profiles did not specify the number of children or only stated that there were children without mentioning their ages, in order to prevent recruiters from noticing the experimental setup.”
Doctoral researcher in labour economics Morien El Haj

Mothers penalised, fathers only in specific situations!
The results show that mothers are systematically rated less favourably than childless women during job applications, regardless of the number or age of their children. Specifically, fictitious female candidates who indicated that they had children were less likely to be recommended for a job interview or for hiring.

The study makes a key scientific contribution in showing that this happens because identifying a female candidate as a mother immediately triggers certain assumptions. Recruiters perceive mothers as clearly (1) less ambitious, (2) less flexible, (3) more frequently absent in both the short and long term, and (4) less willing to work overtime than childless women.

For fathers, the picture is different. They are generally not judged differently than childless men when their parenthood status is revealed during applications — at least when they have one or two children. Fathers with three (or more) children, however, are seen as (1) less ambitious, (2) less flexible, and (3) less willing to work overtime than childless men. As a result, they are also less likely to be recommended for a job interview or for hiring.

For men, the age of their children does matter: fathers with older children are assessed more harshly than fathers with younger children or children of unknown age.

“In a previous policy study, we found that men with three children are less often employed than fathers with one or two children. This new study uncovers a mechanism behind that: they are judged less favourably by employers. It appears that employers expect fathers in these situations to take on more caregiving responsibilities. As children grow older, mothers are more often back to full-time work and children require more practical support (e.g., with homework or hobbies). Employers may then assume that fathers should share that responsibility. And that clashes with the traditional stereotype of the father as the full-time breadwinner.”
Professor of labour economics Stijn Baert

Is staying silent (about your children) golden?
Women who did not mention whether they had children on their CV were not rated worse than childless women in terms of hireability. However, they were attributed some of the same negative traits as mothers. In other words: some employers assumed these women had children anyway.

“The fact that women who did not mention children were still associated with negative traits highlights the role of statistical discrimination. Employers fill in missing information based on their perceptions of certain groups. For women, this leads to risk assessments, even if there is no objective basis for them. You can also see this in earlier research in Flanders that found that lesbians were more likely to be hired, but only during fertile years, which researchers could only explain as a penalty linked to motherhood.”
Doctoral researcher in labour economics Axana Dalle

Policy implications and tips for employers to improve work-life balance
This unequal treatment shows that some employers still make decisions based on stereotypes. The researchers offer a few policy recommendations.

“If we want parents to have equal opportunities, recruitment needs to be as objective as possible. Uniform hiring practices can help. Think of standardised application forms or structured interviews that omit personal details about parenthood and instead focus on collecting accurate information about productivity traits and candidates’ performance potential.”
Postdoctoral researcher in labour economics Louis Lippens

“In our study, we saw that mothers were perceived as less available: a perception that likely stems from the assumption that they handle caregiving when (stable) childcare is lacking. Better childcare arrangements can eliminate such assumptions. More subsidised places, longer opening hours, and better working conditions for childcare workers are essential. We should not look only to the government here. Employers can also help by organising their own childcare or reserving spots at partnered nurseries. That way, childcare better aligns with employees’ working hours.”
Doctoral researcher in labour economics Morien El Haj

“Scandinavian countries offer further inspiration. By actively encouraging fathers to take leave after a child’s birth, they help prevent caregiving duties from automatically falling to mothers. In Belgium, we sometimes see the opposite: when a baby needs extra care, maternity leave is extended rather than seeking a shared solution. For me, a highlight of the coalition agreement under the De Wever-led government was the intention to introduce a ‘Family Credit’, allowing family members to share all types of care leave. This automatically sparks a conversation within families and stops women from paying the price for their fertility — even though society as a whole benefits from the outcome. Let’s hope the Family Credit is implemented soon.”
Professor of labour economics Stijn Baert