Employers in the UK are “in the dark ages” when it comes to the recruitment of pregnant women and new mothers, a new survey has stated.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) found that many businesses are encouraging discrimination against women who are pregnant, or planning to start a family in the near future, because they are asking them at the interview to disclose information such as whether they are pregnant.
According to the survey, 59 per cent of employers believe a woman should have to disclose whether she is pregnant during the interview stage, while 46 per cent believe it is reasonable to ask a woman if she has young children during the recruitment process.
What’s more, 44 per cent of the employers surveyed feel that it’s reasonable to expect a woman to work for a company for at least a year before having children.
Chief executive of the EHRC Rebecca Hilsenrath stressed that it’s against the law to not give a woman a job because she is pregnant or may become pregnant.
“It’s clear that many employers need more support to better understand the basics of discrimination law and the rights of pregnant women and new mothers,” she asserted.
This isn’t the only recent research to highlight the difficulties that mothers face in the workplace, with a survey by the Institute of Fiscal Studies showing that women with children miss out on earnings growth that is associated with more job experience.
As a result, the gender pay gap in the UK stands at around 20 per cent, while women who have a child typically earn 30 per cent less than fathers with a similar level of education by the time their child reaches the age of 20.
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