Mothers returning to work: The good, the bad, and the ugly

Mothers tend to be at a greater disadvantage in the labor market compared to non-mothers and fathers, and this disadvantage becomes even more pronounced for mothers reentering the workforce after a career break. The majority of prior research on this topic either focuses on the employer’s side of the hiring process or is limited to the experiences of women in professional or managerial occupations. This project answers what barriers mothers from a variety of occupations faced upon returning to the workforce and examines the strategies they implemented to successfully navigate these barriers. In-depth interviews of twenty mothers from a large swath of occupations were conducted to capture a wide range of experiences. The mothers in this study faced disadvantages in the interview process and downward career trajectories due to inflexibility in the workplace. However, several mothers were able to navigate these barriers by leveraging their personal and professional networks or by engaging with family-friendly employers. Based on these findings, mothers could potentially minimize some of the disadvantages encountered during reentry by maintaining professional connections during a career break, and employers could maximize their ability to attract the best talent by offering flexible work schedules and adjusting interview practices.