The impact of motherhood on employment and earnings in London

Gender inequalities in the UK and London labour markets are large. Recent data show that women living in London are around 10 percentage points less likely to be in work than men; and earn on average 19% less per hour than men.[1]

Economists highlight the role of children in gender inequality, with international studies finding evidence for a “motherhood penalty” (often known as a “child penalty”), which refers to the measurable economic disadvantages women experience after having children. These disadvantages include lower employment rates, reduced working hours, and lower earnings compared to their pre-birth circumstances and to women without children.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has recently published an analysis that quantifies how much less women earn and how much less likely women are to be in paid employment after the birth of a child.[2]

The ONS estimates that five years after the birth of a first child, women in England earn 42% less than they would have done without having a child.[3] Part of that reduction is due to the decline in employment. The probability that a woman is in paid employment after five years is 11 percentage points lower than it would have been.[4]

The ONS also published data tables showing how the motherhood penalty affects different socio-economic groups, and how it varies by region of residence. This note highlights two key findings for London:

• among those who remain in work, the earnings penalty is slightly smaller than in England as a whole
• the employment penalty is larger and continues to worsen over time.

Figure A1: The motherhood penalty in terms of earnings in London is 38%, slightly less than in England as whole

Looking at the relative reduction in monthly earnings compared to one year before birth (Figure A1), London tracks England closely through the first year, with both falling steeply to around 62% down on pre-birth earnings after two quarters.[5]

However, the long-run penalty diverges: London mothers suffer a 38% reduction in earnings after five years, compared to before first childbirth, compared to a 42% relative loss in England.

In 2023 prices, mothers in London are paid around £1,200 a month less five years after the birth of their first child than they would otherwise have been. This is larger than the figure for England, but mainly reflects higher pre-birth earnings.[6]

The largest monetary drop occurs two quarters after birth: approximately down £2,000 per month in London versus £1,600 in England. Both recover partially after one year (4 quarters) to around £1,200 in London and £1,000 in England. In the long run (20 quarters or five years), earnings remain depressed.

Figure A2: London mothers are less likely to return to work within five years of first child

The penalty in terms of employment is much larger, with women in London 17 percentage points less likely to be in employment five years after the birth of a first child than otherwise. In most other English regions, the probability of a mother being in paid work starts to increase after an initial fall in the first year after the birth of a child.

Uniquely in London, the probability of employment continues to decline between one and five years after birth. London mothers have the largest fall in probability of being in paid employment after their first birth, and London is the only region where the five-year probability is lower than the one-year one.

In London, the probability of being in paid employment for new mothers relative to the pre-birth level is almost 15 percentage points lower one year after childbirth, and this gap widens to 17 percentage points after five years as shown on Figure A2. London is the only region where the five-year probability is worse than the one-year outcome, whereas all other regions experience at least a 2-percentage-points improvement between one- and five-years post-birth.

This combination of earnings falling less than in the rest of the UK, while employment falling more is a puzzle, and a potential avenue for future research.

Data and further reading

The data tables published by ONS include many other breakdowns by socioeconomic characteristics at the UK level, including: age band at first birth, country of birth, disability, ethnic group and Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintiles. The published results also include estimates for second and third births.

The publication is one of a series that uses a large number of linked datasets (such as PAYE information, health records, the Census and others) to explore the impacts of health and other factors on labour market outcomes.

Generally, studies find that women often adjust their working patterns and priorities after having children, which helps explain much of the gender wage gap. Mothers prioritise family-friendly job amenities – such as flexible hours or shorter workweeks – more highly than fathers do.[7] This preference leads them to accept jobs with fewer advancement opportunities and less bargaining power, effectively narrowing their employment options and reducing their earning potential.[8]

Academic research on the “motherhood penalty” has also revealed a “fatherhood premium” following the birth of the first child .[9] While mothers experience reduced earnings and employment, fathers typically see improved career outcomes. This divergence largely reflects gendered patterns in work adaptation: mothers often reduce hours, change jobs, or temporarily withdraw from the labour market, while fathers typically increase their career investment and specialisation. These different responses reinforce the existing gender wage gap, which currently stands at 7% in the UK.[10]

For further reading on the economics of gender inequality in the workplace – including the motherhood penalty, pay gaps and the impact of marriage – see the comprehensive review by Olivetti et al. (2024)

In general, this data and research findings can serve as an evidence base for policymakers when designing future policies to support mothers’ employment and earnings outcomes. The motherhood penalty is driven by labour supply adjustments (i.e. how mothers are able or choose to work after having a child), job choice constraints, and structural barriers (e.g. childcare costs and availability). These factors are key levers for policymakers aiming to improve maternal labour market outcomes

[1] ONS Regional labour market: headline indicators for London (Dataset) and ONS Gender Pay Gap (Dataset)

[2] The impact of motherhood on monthly employee earnings and employment status in England

[3] The ONS extends the analysis to second and third children, finding that the earnings penalty decreases for the second child but rises again for the third (remaining still much below that of the first birth).

[4] Academic work in Kleven et al. (2019) identified a long-run earnings penalty of approximately 44% for the UK (compared to one year before first birth), which closely aligns with the ONS’s more recent estimate.

[5] Statutory maternity pay is 90% of average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks of leave, then falls to, at most, £187 for the next 33 weeks. Maternity leave and pay, UK government (2025). The data cannot determine whether employees are receiving maternity pay or other earnings, only all payments through the Pay-As-You-Earn system.

[6] This larger absolute drop in London reflects higher baseline earnings: annual average (mean) gross pay for women in London in 2023 was £42,627, around 45% higher than in England overall (£29,161). ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Dataset)

[7] See academic work by Mas et al. (2017) for gendered demand for flexibility or Wasserman (2023) for hours constraint and occupational choice by gender.

[8] Caldwell et al. (2022) estimate that the effective reduced size of the labour market for mothers explains 20% of the gender wage gap in Germany.

^[9] Research led by Nobel Prize-winning economist Claudia Goldin (2022) found that fathers earn about 14–20% more than similar men without children (“fatherhood premium”).

[10] The most recent (2024) ONS update on the gender pay gap is available here.