The road towards a mother’s loss: Motherhood Penalty

Introduction

The motherhood penalty is the loss a woman faces in the workplace after becoming a mother. In simpler words, the motherhood penalty is an utterly frustrating phenomenon for women facing economic disadvantages after becoming a mother.

In a society where becoming a mother is celebrated and cheered upon, quite the opposite happens in the work environment. The “motherhood penalty” may account for a significant proportion of the gender pay gap, as the pay gap between mothers and non-mothers could be larger than the pay gap between men and women.

Such an issue is particularly important for a country like India. Although India's GDP has grown significantly since 1991, following LPG (liberalisation, privatisation, and globalisation), the country still has one of the lowest rates of women's labour force participation in South Asia, and issues such as the motherhood penalty further exacerbate this situation.

The Wrath of Motherhood Penalty

Women are forcefully provided with the choice to either prefer their job or take care of their child. There is no middle ground provided in most cases. It was widely assumed, by various scholars, that women, when giving birth, tend to lose their work-related skills during care-related career breaks (e.g., Gangl and Ziefle, 2009;Napari, 2010); prefer jobs that may pay less but provide care (Felfe, 2012); or even posit that women who decide to have children in the future or have them early are less career-orientated (Korenman and Neumark, 1992). Well, these remarks have not completely proven to be true.

Studies also show how women have wanted to build a career for themselves despite taking care of the child but have been unable to do so due to unequal pay or job terminations. In an era of women empowerment, or as commonly said, ‘Naari Shakti’, a hindrance persists over several sectors and remains largely unaddressed. Even after decades of struggle, merely 42% of the total workforce consists of women.

Amongst that small proportion also, they face several complications. In various cases, women are expected to pay a fee for the days they take up as maternity leave. Although the government, under the Maternity Benefit Act 1961, clearly stated that a woman is entitled to 26 weeks of paid maternity leave for their first two children, with up to 8 weeks allowed before expected delivery.

Also to be paid with full pages during the leaf period, there still have been multiple cases which have involved a significant fee from the women or their termination. For instance, on December 20, 2025, the Telangana Senior Resident Doctors Association head flatted a compulsory collection of ₹15,000 from four women postgraduate doctors upon returning from three months' mandatory maternity leave. This practice is described as the 'motherhood penalty'.

Even after making the payment, the women's (PG) doctors were delayed for an awaiting period of more than a month to secure formal rejoining permission from the university. They were also denied access to the departmental facility and other course-related resources, which affected their training. Various doctors of the association report that they have not been permitted to take casual leaves during the extension period or even in medical emergencies or for child health issues.

Also, during the extension period post maternity leave, the students were not provided with the stipend, which cost them severe financial hardship and affected maternal and child health. Such cases are clear examples of how a woman’s employment is treated after the maternity period. Even after making several laws and provisions, such acts of injustice continue to exist in society.

Around 24,000 women employees across 560 companies were studied by Aon’s 2024 Voice of Women. It reported that around 75% of women faced career setbacks after 1 to 2 years of returning from maternity leave. More importantly, 40% of the women reported that the maternity leave affected their job and pay. Though wage inequality in India is not only in the space of motherhood but also exists amongst both genders.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it can be said that the mother penalty is indeed a torturous way of treating women who wish to return to the workspace after childbirth and maternity leave.

Even though studies indicate that women turn out to be less competent, less career-oriented or productive for the company or business organisations after childbirth, it still does not justify the penalty for being a mother.

The Telangana Senior Resident Doctors Association is one such great example that showed women’s commitment towards work and commitment to achieve their goals, but due to unjust economic discrimination, they are unable to fulfil such ambitions.

No woman should face such search disadvantages just for becoming a mother. Women should be treated and paid for the amount of work she does, with the skills she possesses, and the profit she brings to the company or any business organisation.

Written By: Niharika Chauhan Edited By: Bhaskar Jha