What do companies and leaders do for mobsters?

If Mother Goose was in the race between the tortoise and the hare, would she'd win it if she went for it? She's likely already done the marketing, advertising, and budgeting for the event, created decorations for it, set up the course and organised the nutritious food and drink for after.

Last week my co-founder and I launched The MOB for @mumswhobuild as our contribution towards changing the future and narrative for motherhood, by creating more freedom, through opportunities to build equity.

When a woman goes on maternity leave, unless she is part of the most progressive employer in the world she receives a cut, and I'm not talking about the >50% of cases to help the little baby and mum out.

A cut to her wealth potential from reduced remuneration, pension, NI contributions, and any investments from lower earnings if unable to contribute whilst on maternity leave.

But the drop doesn't stop there. The term Motherhood Penalty relates to the bias and discrimination faced after becoming a mother that results in lack of progression and underemployment faced for the remainder of her career.

Some stats on the impact of it include;

• 64,000 exits from the labour force every year - this doesn’t include the 1000's of demotions, redundancies and rehires, progression halts, etc etc

• It's the primary driver of the pay gap as it contributes 60% to the gender pay gap according to PWC

• Only 7% of couples take shared parental leave which is significantly inequitable for the father

• A woman has around ~70p for every £1 a man has at retirement - it reduces further as women live four years longer than men on average in the UK

Women and their families are significantly affected by this - financial security is diminished when women become mothers.

BUT, there are stats and facts that change this status quo.

• Women outperform men more often in investing, by 0.5% to 1% higher returns a year.

And the fairy godmother of compound interest means the potential to make up the gap from the motherhood penalty and then some, is very real.

So, part of our mission at The MOB is to grant access to education and support around investing, and addressing mindsets on the topic of money. Resources from Allbright and The FT are brilliant for this.

However, as @reshmasaujani perfectly articulates this, this is not a mother’s issue, it's a system issue. The system built on legacy thinking, ideals and outdated ‘norms’ around parenting and working, and the lack of support on the topics and influences.

So we at The MOB are curious to know, what are progressive leaders and companies are doing out there to address this systemic issue?

Are you or your company providing resources to your employees about investing and support for their future long-term growth? If yes, how? Do you ever address the issue of the wealth gap specifically to your employees?

We would love to chat to you and amplify your voice as you are part of the change for families and futures, by creating more freedom through opportunities to build equity.