The charity and campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed has published new data that shows a sharp increase in the number of women being pushed out of their job when pregnant, during maternity leave or when returning from maternity leave.

Having surveyed 35,800 parents, the research shows that up to 74,000 women lose their jobs every year after getting pregnant or taking maternity leave. This is a stark increase of 37% from 54,000 in 2016, and proves the motherhood penalty is still alive and kicking.

The research, which was conducted in partnership with Women In Data, found that 12.3% of women are sacked, constructively dismissed or made redundant while pregnant, on maternity leave or within a year of returning from maternity leave. If scaled up to the general population, this could mean as many as 74,000 women a year are being pushed out of the workplace during one of the most pressurised times of their lives.

In addition, half of pregnant women, those on maternity leave and those returning from maternity leave say they had a negative experience at work. Of those who had a negative experience, one in five left their employer. Meanwhile, a third of women say they were sidelined or demoted while pregnant, on maternity leave or when they returned from maternity leave.

Despite this, just 2% of women who experience discrimination at work raise a tribunal claim.

Joeli Brearley, the founder Pregnant Then Screwed, says: “We have long suspected things are getting worse, not better. Our free advice line is ringing off the hook; it has reached a point where we simply cannot cope with demand. To find that 74,000 mothers a year are being pushed out of their jobs for daring to procreate is not surprising, but it is devastating. That’s a woman being pushed out of her job every seven minutes in the UK for doing something that is part of the human existence.

“In 2016, the coalition government commissioned a report to better understand how widespread pregnancy and maternity discrimination is. The report found that things had significantly deteriorated over the previous 10 years. Despite committing to repeat the research every five years, this has not happened, so we have been forced to take matters into our own hands. What sort of message does this send to women – that the government cares so little about this issue that they can’t even be bothered to collect the data.”

Images: Adobe