The cost of motherhood: working Irish women worse off

Women in Ireland bear the cost of becoming a parent more than their counterparts elsewhere in Europe, according to a survey.

The report, conducted on behalf of the careers website Glassdoor, also shows that Ireland is among the worst countries in Europe for gender equality, coming in just ahead of Greece and Italy.

The survey, which compared equality measures in 18 European countries and the US, found that the increase in the gender gap attributable to having children is considerably more severe in Ireland than in other European countries.

The study shows the pay difference between men and Irish women with at least one child and those with no children, is 31 percentage points. This compares with just a 3-point difference for Italy, Spain and Belgium.

Ireland is also among the bottom three countries in terms of labour force participation for women.

Board level

According to the report, Ireland is ranked third from bottom for gender equality in the workplace overall and also ranks as one of the worst countries in terms of representation of women at board level.

Women were under-represented at board level in every country surveyed. Norway has the highest proportion of women in higher management due to a legislation-based quota system introduced in 2006.

The study finds that women are generally also under-represented in professional and more technically demanding jobs and that further education significantly increases a woman’s probability of being employed.

Sweden, Norway and Finland ranked highest for best overall gender equality.

A second study published last month by Eurostat, the European Union's official statistics body, showed close to 40 per cent of Irish working mothers with two children are on part-time contracts, versus just 9 per cent of men.

The study showed that the more children a woman has, the more she likely will work part-time. The opposite is true for men.