Broken Rungs and Baby Bumps: Why Working Mothers Are Still Falling Behind

With Guest Blogger: Rachel Erasmus

Summary 

Working mothers continue to fall behind because of two overlapping barriers: the “broken rung”—the missed first step up to manager—and the motherhood penalty, a measurable drop in pay and promotion rates after childbirth. In 2024, women (especially women of color) were still promoted less often at this first stage (1). UK mothers lose an estimated £65,618 in earnings within five years of their first child (2)(3). The UK provides 52 weeks of maternity leave with 39 weeks of pay (4)(5), while U.S. mothers depend on unpaid FMLA leave (8)(9). Recent protections like the PUMP Act (10)(11) and Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) (12) mark progress, but not parity. The solution: maternity coaching, manager education, flexible working, job shares, hybrid working, childcare support, and transparent career tracking.

The “Broken Rung”: Why the First Step to Manager Still Breaks

The “broken rung” is the first promotion from individual contributor to manager and it’s where too many women fall behind. This step is vital because it shapes the leadership pipeline; when fewer women become managers, there are fewer to promote later on.

According to LeanIn.Org and McKinsey’s 2024 “Women in the Workplace” report, the gap has barely moved. For every 100 men promoted to manager, only 87 women advance and for women of color, that number drops to 54 (1). The result is a thinner pipeline at every higher level of leadership.

This isn’t just bias in isolation, but rather it's a system effect. Informal promotion criteria, limited sponsorship, and assumptions about women’s “availability” at childbearing ages all contribute. Structured promotion processes, diverse slates, and transparent criteria can fix the rung before it breaks.

The Motherhood Penalty: When Pay and Progress Flatten

The motherhood penalty is real, measurable, and persistent. Decades of research show mothers earn less and progress slower than fathers or women without children.

Pay Penalties

In the U.K., Office for National Statistics (ONS) data show that mothers lose about £65,618 in earnings over the five years after their first child, with a 42% average monthly pay drop by year five (2)(3). In the U.S., the penalty equals roughly 5–7% lower wages per child, even after controlling for experience and education (11).

Childcare Costs

The U.S. Department of Labor estimates families spend $6,552–$15,600 per year for one child in full-day care—between 8.9% and 16% of median family income (11). For many women, it’s an economic equation that doesn’t add up, making career pauses or part-time work a financial necessity rather than a choice.

Policy Context: UK vs. US Maternity and Parental Leave

United Kingdom

• 52 weeks of Statutory Maternity Leave (26 ordinary + 26 additional).

• 39 weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP):

  • 6 weeks at 90% pay

  • 33 weeks at £187.18/week or 90% of earnings, whichever is lower. (4)(5)

• Keeping in Touch (KIT) days: up to 10 paid workdays during leave. (6)

• Shared Parental Leave (SPLIT) days: up to 20 per parent to stay engaged. (7)

United States

• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for eligible workers. (8)

• Federal Employee Paid Leave Act (FEPLA): allows 12 weeks of paid parental leave for federal workers. (9)

Most U.S. private-sector employees receive no paid leave at all. Some states (e.g., California, New York, Washington) have implemented paid programs, but coverage remains patchy.

The Identity Shift: From High Performer to New Parent

Even with progressive workplace policies, the transition to motherhood can be experienced as a a form of “identity-crisis”, with a sudden loss of structure, control, and personal space.  As Rachel Erasmus notes from her coaching practice, becoming a mother is a profound, life-changing transformation; it can be as confronting as it is beautiful. 

For high-performing women accustomed to autonomy, mastery, and clear metrics of success, the transition to parenthood can trigger a profound sense of dissonance. The identity that once felt solid becomes fluid. Those who once thrived on measurable outcomes and productivity face unpredictable schedules, loss of personal space, monotony, isolation and emotional overload. This dissonance is compounded by an internal dialogue: “Who am I now?” The high performer who drove outcomes may now feel uncertain about her value in a culture that measures contribution by visibility and availability. Without structured support, this tension can erode confidence and fuel attrition.

Coaching during the antenatal and postnatal periods can help women navigate this developmental shift: reconnecting with their core values, redefining their priorities and purposes, and finding new definitions of success. Through reflective dialogue, women can begin to reframe motherhood and leadership as interconnected rather than competing identities. They can articulate what personal achievement and wellbeing looks like in this new context and translate that understanding into sustainable professional growth.

Maternity leave has the potential to be embraced by organisations not as a disruption to performance, but as a rite of passage that can develop Leadership capabilities, deepen empathy, and enhance adaptability. It isn’t about “bouncing back” but rather recognising that ‘Maternity’ is an intensive catalyst for transformation, growth and development.

Manager Moments That Make (or Break) the Return

Managers play a defining role in whether a new mother thrives or leaves.

• Before leave: Create a clear handoff plan and a realistic timeline. Be strategic about this.  Take pieces of the new mothers work and work to create growth opportunities for others.  Use AI to help document process, take meeting notes, and have questions answered before the leave begins.

• During leave: Leave your new mother alone!  She is at home bonding, healing, and resting, and you (should have) set yourself up for success prior to her taking leave.  Have one check in organized to confirm her return to work date, and begin her day with a meeting to catch her up on everything that happened during her leave.

• Upon return: Offer phased workloads, clear goals, and early visibility opportunities so she can rebuild confidence without burnout. Many new moms do not consider the possibility of coming back prior to the full 12 weeks off, but instead staggering leave.  One mom advised me she took 10 weeks off, was bored and ready to come back to work, but not full time, so used the remaining 2 weeks to work 4 hour days, effectively extending her leave hours an additional two weeks.

When managers are trained, supported, and empathetic, they become the strongest ladder rungs of all.

Nine Proven Fixes to Keep Women Rising

1. Maternity Coaching: Begin 8–10 weeks before leave, continue with check-ins during and after return.

2. Manager Training: Playbooks on fair leave planning, handovers, coverage, flexible working conversations and inclusive post-leave reintegration. 



3. Structured Promotions: Use written criteria, competency frameworks and calibration to counter bias. (1)

4. Childcare Support: Stipends, backup care, or partnerships to offset costs. (11)

5. Flex-with-Guardrails: Predictable flexibility -  defined core hours, protected no-meeting blocks, and formalised part-time or job-share roles with clear handover expectations. 



6. Lactation Support: Time and private spaces per the PUMP Act. (10)(11)

7. Leave Mapping: Shared team plans for coverage and development.

8. Returnship Sprints: 4–6 week “re-entry programs” for confidence and visibility.

9. Transparency & Accountability: Publish promotion and retention data by gender and race. (1)

Why This Conversation Matters — and Why We’re Having It Together

For both of us, this is a shared passion project born out of our real life experiences.

We’re two women, in two different countries, with two different career paths, and yet the story feels the same: ambitious women doing their best to balance leadership, love, and late-night laundry.

We’ve both seen too many women hit the “broken rung” right when life gets real and when careers start to accelerate just as the demands of motherhood do too. And we’ve both felt that invisible tension: wanting to show up fully for our families and for our ambitions, without losing ourselves in the process.

Erica’s Why: Changing the Corporate System from the Inside Out

After decades in corporate leadership and HR, Erica knows firsthand how the system was built, how it works, and how often it wasn’t built for women. She’s seen high-performing women stall out, burn out, or step out, not because they lacked drive, but because the structures around them lacked understanding.

Now, her mission is to get more women into positions of power.  Not by hustling harder, but by redefining what success looks like in systems that finally make space for real life.

Rachel’s Why: Supporting the Woman Behind the Mother

Rachel’s journey began as a Midwife in central London, where she saw countless professional women enter motherhood with enthusiasm, only to find themselves overwhelmed by its demands and quietly lose sight of who they were. Those experiences inspired her move into Maternity Coaching, where she now helps women navigate the profound shift of “Who am I now?” and emerge more grounded, confident, and connected than before.  For Rachel, coaching is about creating a space for growth, purpose, and self-leadership, so that motherhood is not the end of their leadership journey, but a powerful deepening of it.

The Shared Passion: So Women Don’t Wake Up at 45 Wondering Where It All Went

We came together for this conversation to bring together our shared truths and experiences. 

Because too many women wake up one day, mid-career, feeling stuck and wondering, “How did I end up here?” They’ve built the career they thought they wanted, but somewhere along the way, they lost the time, the presence, and the sense of self that made it all meaningful.

We believe it doesn’t have to be that way.

By talking openly about the broken rung, the motherhood penalty, and the identity shift that happens in the middle of it all, we hope to help more women see that they’re not alone and that it’s not too late to rewrite the story.

This blog is about possibility and hope.

It’s about showing women, whether they’re climbing, pausing, pivoting, or reinventing, that their careers don’t have to cost them their lives, and their lives don’t have to cost them their careers.

Because the real goal isn’t just to get more women into power, it's to help more women feel powerful, whole, and free in every part of their lives.

Learn More About Rachel

Rachel Erasmus is an executive coach (CPCC, ACC) and former midwife who helps high-achieving women navigate the intersection of motherhood and leadership. Drawing on her medical background, coaching expertise, and lived experience, Rachel founded the Full Spectrum Maternity Coaching Framework™ and partners with organisations and individuals to redefine how workplaces support and value women through this transformational stage of their life and career.

https://www.rachelerasmus.com

Frequently Asked Questions

1️⃣ What is the “broken rung”?It’s the first promotion step—from individual contributor to manager—where women, especially women of color, are promoted less often than men. (1)

2️⃣ What’s the motherhood penalty?It’s the lifetime earnings gap mothers face after having children—about £65,618 over five years in the UK, and 5–7% less pay per child in the U.S. (2)(3)(11)

3️⃣ What protections do pregnant and nursing U.S. workers have?The PUMP Act ensures pumping breaks and private spaces, and the PWFA mandates reasonable accommodations for pregnancy and postpartum needs. (10)(12)

4️⃣ How long is maternity leave in the UK?Up to 52 weeks, with 39 weeks of paid leave (6 weeks at 90% pay, 33 weeks at £187.18 or 90% of earnings). KIT and SPLIT days keep parents connected. (4)(5)(6)(7)

5️⃣ What’s the U.S. baseline for leave?FMLA: 12 weeks unpaid, job-protected leave. FEPLA: 12 weeks paid for federal employees. (8)(9)

6️⃣ What helps new mothers return successfully?Phased workloads, clear expectations, protected pumping breaks, and early opportunities to showcase impact.

Final Thoughts

From London to Raleigh, the story is the same: ambitious women climb until life gets real: marriage, motherhood, and mayhem. But the problem isn’t the women. It’s the system: broken rungs, missing support, outdated norms.

The fix is possible and proven. When companies combine maternity coaching, manager readiness, and policy alignment, they not only retain talent, they redefine what success looks like for working mothers everywhere.

References

1. LeanIn.Org & McKinsey, Women in the Workplace 2024.

2. Financial Times (Oct 2025): UK mothers lose ~£65,618 over five years post-birth.

3. The Guardian (Oct 2025): Motherhood penalty deepens by child number; 42% earnings drop.

4. GOV.UK: Statutory Maternity Pay and Leave.

5. GOV.UK: Employer SMP Guide.

6. GOV.UK: Keeping in Touch (KIT) Days Policy.

7. GOV.UK: Shared Parental Leave (SPLIT) Days.

8. U.S. Department of Labor: FMLA Fact Sheet #28.

9. U.S. OPM: Paid Parental Leave Policy for Federal Employees.

10. U.S. Department of Labor: PUMP Act Guidance.

11. U.S. Department of Labor: National Database of Childcare Prices (2022).

12. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) Final Rule, effective June 18, 2024.