International Women’s Day: Supporting diverse new motherhoods for work inclusion

Motherhood can have a particularly negative impact on employment for ethnic minority women. They are more likely to leave employment after the birth of their first child or to suffer workplace discrimination as a result. Wenjin Dai and Francesca Calo of The Open University Business School, alongside colleagues Fidele Mutwarasibo and Steven Parker, have conducted research to amplify the voices of ethnic minority mothers with children under school age in the UK. 

They explored these women’s diverse and unique experiences and made recommendations on how policies should be designed to combine the important roles of worker and mother. Through exploring the intersectional influences of gender, ethnicity, and motherhood, the project focused on understanding how best to support mothers from diverse backgrounds.

The project team also worked with fellow OU researchers Keely Duddin and Kendal Wright and various external organisations including the Department for Work and Pensions to develop two toolkits. These are aimed at supporting mothers’ transition back into the workplace and providing strategies for employers to reintegrate them effectively. The toolkits are now available at 650 Job Centres and they have been shared with 300 employers and more than 260 Job Centre Plus coaches.