Women lose up to £14,000 in earnings and are less likely to secure employment after suffering a miscarriage or stillbirth, a shocking new study shows.
Data released by the Office for National Statistics shows women suffered lower average earnings for up to five years after losing a child during pregnancy or labour.
The study looked at the monthly pay and employment status of women who went through stillbirths, neonatal deaths, miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies and molar pregnancies.
In total, losses of up to £13,581 were shown across at least a five-year period. The probability of employment also reduced by a maximum of 4.8 per cent in the three months following the end of a pregnancy. Those who had suffered a stillbirth saw a drop in likelihood of employment for up to two years afterwards.
Joeli Brearley, founder of the charity Pregnant Then Screwed, said: “From the point that women become pregnant they are judged as less capable of doing their job. Even if they then tragically experience pregnancy loss or still birth, the bias still lingers, impacting their progression and earnings.
“These women are facing every mother’s worst nightmare, and the trauma is compounded by ongoing bias which says they must be distracted and less committed to their job.”
She added that very few women receive support from their employer during this period, according to previous research carried out by the campaign group.
“What world do we live in that penalises a mother professionally at a time of loss so great that most of us can’t even bear to imagine it?
“It is very encouraging to see the ONS is looking into this, and we would like to see more done to protect and support mothers when they are at their most vulnerable from not being held back in their careers too.”
Emma Sharland, principal officer of ONS’s health research group said: “These events can have a devastating emotional and health impact to women who experience them and their families. For the first time, we have looked to understand the financial impact they can also have.
“We found all these events caused a decrease in earnings, with some leading to a total loss of almost £14,000 in earnings over five years. This financial impact persisted, and those who experienced some of these events never saw their pay recover during the study period.”
The ONS study, which covered 2014 to 2022, found that the loss of earnings was likely caused by changes to employment status and to pay because of women moving to part-time work or different type of employment.
Almost 150,000 women aged between 23 and 60 were included in the study. The data includes women who are employed rather than self-employed.