Coordinating maternal life when you are a mother who works outside the home can be complicated. From seeing who or where they will take care of our children while we work, to organizing schedules and dealing with feelings of guilt, things are not easy.
Every day there is more talk about extending maternity leave in dozens of countries, however, according to a recent survey, Even if it is very wide, more than a third of mothers who return to work consider giving up their jobs.
The survey, conducted by the British MMB interview and in which 1,000 mothers participated, yielded some results that could show us the true feeling of mothers about the balance that exists (or not) between maternal and work life.
It is important to mention that the survey was conducted only with British Madred, who according to our research about maternity leave in Europe and the world, is currently 365 days, one of the most widespread that exist.
In Babies and more Working in a hostile work environment negatively affects the way mothers are raisedAccording to information from Working Mother, most of the mothers surveyed took full maternity leave, which brings us to the central point of the survey results: maternity leave, although extensive, is not enough nor is it the only thing that matters.
According to the results published on the MMB magazine website, these would be the most relevant or important figures:
- Only 18% of mothers returning from their maternity leave felt happy and safe in their work, due to the way they had seen other mothers before, who had also returned to deal with their boss or employer.
- 37% of them felt so isolated and unsupported that they had wanted to resign.
- Only 17% felt that they had had good communication and support during the entire process of their maternity (from pregnancy and maternity leave, to return to work as mothers).
- 59% of them feared that their requests for a flexible schedule would be rejected.
- 68% worried about the cost of caring for their children when they returned to work.
- 41% feared that their career would stagnate after becoming mothers.
The truth is that, although maternity leave is totally different in each country, This is not the only thing that matters or needs to be considered for working mothers. Spaces to express milk, for example, is something that also needs to be promoted, because in fact, many mothers stop breastfeeding when they return to work because conditions make it very difficult.
In Babies and more, we do not want more daycare centers but better reconciliation policies and broader maternity and paternity leaveAnother example would be lack of understanding and work flexibility, either to reduce working hours or to obtain permits without so much trouble or bad faces when there is an emergency related to children. In addition, as we mentioned in a recent study, working in a hostile environment would also negatively affect the way mothers are raised.
The conclusion that is mainly obtained from this type of surveys (and in fact, we already knew but also need to continue mentioning and fighting for it), is that in general, the lack of understanding and support that mothers experience when returning to work life is scarce, and an extended maternity leave is not always enough.
