The Motherhood Penalty with Joeli Brearley

54,000 women a year are pushed out of their jobs for getting pregnant. That's a woman every ten minutes. Joeli Brearley, founder of Pregnant Then Screwed, joins Emily to expose the motherhood penalty — the career and financial setback that makes the Invisible Worker a mother. From the marriage bar to the modern pay gap, they make the case for affordable childcare, shared parental leave reform, and men picking up a mop.

Episode Notes from our host, Emily Trant:

Joeli Brearley has helped over 300,0000 women, including me. I have even been a client of Pregnant Then Screwed, the charity that Joeli founded to support women who have experienced pregnancy and maternity discirmination at work. 

Mothers are the Invisible Workers. They are the ones stitching together part-time jobs around caring responsibilities, quietly absorbing the financial hit of the motherhood penalty, and propping up the economy through unpaid labour that barely registers in GDP calculations. I knew I had to have Joeli on to unpack the history that brought us here and what we can do to change it.

Joeli is one of the most compelling advocates I have ever met. She is precise with data, unflinching in her honesty, and she made me laugh and want to cry in equal measure.

Thank you, Joeli, for everything you do for working mothers.

Here are some of the resources and research we discuss on the show:

Pregnant Then Screwed: The charity Joeli founded, offering free legal advice to women who experience pregnancy or maternity discrimination at work, and campaigning for systemic change. In the last 10 years, they've supported over 300,000 women. Find out more and access free support here: https://pregnantthenscrewed.com/ 

Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC): Source for the statistic that 54,000 women a year — one in nine pregnant women — are pushed out of their jobs. Read more here: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/ 

Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS): Research showing that by the time a woman's first child is 12 years old, her hourly pay rate is 33% behind a man's on average. Explore the research here: https://ifs.org.uk/ 

Joeli's book — Pregnant Then Screwed: A data-driven, deeply personal investigation into the forces that hold working mothers back. Essential reading. Buy it here: https://www.amazon.com/Pregnant-Then-Screwed-Motherhood-Penalty/dp/1471192679 

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