Dr. Gleb Tsipursky – The Office Whisperer
Nirit Cohen – WorkFutures
Angela Howard – Culture Expert
Drew Jones – Design & Innovation
Jonathan Price – CRE & Flex Expert
- Most working moms face lost promotions, stalled careers, and pressure to delay or limit motherhood due to workplace bias.
- 87% of mothers say having kids hurt their careers, and half stopped at one child because of job-related challenges.
- Financial incentives like baby bonuses ignore the real issue of a workforce that penalizes, sidelines, and devalues mothers.
As Mother’s Day approaches, the national conversation has once again turned to how we can support American families. The Trump administration has floated the idea of a one-time “baby bonus” to encourage population growth.
But while financial incentives may draw headlines, they miss the deeper point: the workplace is still fundamentally at odds with motherhood.
A new report from Zety paints a sobering picture. Nearly 1,000 working mothers across the U.S. shared their experiences, and the data makes it clear: for most women, becoming a parent is unfortunately a professional risk.
Zety Career Expert Jasmine Escalera told Allwork.Space that “A ‘baby bonus’ might offer short-term financial relief, but it does nothing to address the long-term career penalties that come with motherhood. 84% of mothers feel their pregnancy was viewed as an inconvenience, and over half have changed industries entirely because of parenthood. The real issue is that companies need to create workplaces where mothers are supported, not penalized.”
She believes that real progress requires shifting the policies and systems that treat motherhood like a liability. Until then, financial incentives are just a band-aid on a broken system that leaves the future of work perilous for moms.
A Career or a Family? Most Women Still Can’t Choose Both
Before a woman even becomes a parent, the career cost of motherhood, also called the “motherhood penalty,” is already being outlined for her. According to Zety, 76% of women have been explicitly told to delay having children until they were “established” in their careers. More than half actually did so.
Even more concerning: 82% say they’ve been warned that having kids would hurt their careers, and 91% believe women without children are perceived as more committed and capable at work.
These fears are a reflection of a system that continues to treat motherhood as a liability.
Parenthood Comes at a Professional Price
The vast majority of working mothers say becoming a parent negatively impacted their careers; 87% missed out on promotions or opportunities after having a child. 90% even changed their career path.
“If 87% of moms are missing out on promotions, it’s a clear signal that change is needed,” Escalera said. “Companies must examine their own data, acknowledge where bias exists, and commit to meaningful reform. That starts with auditing promotion processes to ensure they are equitable, transparent, and based on skills, performance, and potential — not outdated assumptions about who makes an ‘ideal’ employee based on time spent at a desk.”
When the act of having a child triggers a total career recalibration, it’s clear the system isn’t broken…but instead functioning exactly as designed, and not in favor of working mothers.
Work Still Shapes Family Planning, Not the Other Way Around
Motherhood is actively dictated by work. 57% of working mothers reported delaying having a child because of professional demands. For many, the experience of having their first child significantly influenced future family planning decisions; 87% said it affected whether or when they would have more children.
In fact, half of the mothers surveyed chose to stop at one child specifically due to challenges they faced in the workplace.
These statistics expose the disturbing truth that employers are influencing if, when, and how women choose to grow their families.
Pregnancy Is Still Treated as a Professional Inconvenience
While many companies publicly tout their support for working parents, the reality on the ground tells a different story. 84% of mothers said their pregnancy was viewed as an inconvenience at work.
This perception created an environment where 77% feared telling their boss they were expecting. Even after sharing the news, support often fell short — 81% reported being pressured to adjust or shorten their maternity leave to accommodate their employer’s needs.
What Real Change Looks Like
These findings expose a fundamental disconnect that America wants more children, but refuses to restructure the workforce to support the people raising them. One-time bonuses or policy soundbites don’t address the deeper issue that our job market and workplace culture continue to sideline, penalize, and devalue mothers.
If we want to increase birth rates, boost economic participation, and build more equitable workplaces, we must stop treating parenthood as a personal inconvenience and start recognizing it as a public priority.
This requires more than cash handouts, such as structural changes like fair parental leave, flexible work policies, affordable childcare, and a shift in mindset that sees caregiving as a strength, not a setback.
Until then, the trade-off between career and family remains painfully real, and mothers continue to bear the cost.
“Parental discrimination is workplace bias, and ignoring it doesn’t just hurt working parents — it limits growth, innovation, and retention,” Escalera explains. “Companies that want to lead must stop holding people back and start holding themselves accountable.”
