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Study reveals fathers earn 21% more than childless men

25/04/2016

A study has found that fathers out-earn childless men by more than a fifth, whilst the effect is reversed for mothers.

The study was commissioned by think tank IPPR for the Trade Union Centre (TUC), and was based on 17,000 people.

One of its main findings was that fathers who work full-time earn an average of 21% more than their childless male counterparts. It was also found that fathers with two children earned 9% more than those with just one.

However, female full-time workers with a child appeared to be penalised, as the study found that mothers with full-time jobs earned an average of 11% less than those without a child.

While the reasons for the “fatherhood bonus” were unclear, it was suggested that some potential factors may include positive discrimination, increased efforts and longer working hours.

Official labour figures show that on average, a male who works full-time is likely to work half an hour longer each week than a childless male.

In contrast, the study said that the same figures show that a full-time female worker with a child is likely to work around an hour less than those without children.

Additionally, the report also said that when looking at American fathers, increased effort accounted for around 16% of the “fatherhood bonus”.

Gender bias



Despite conceding that there were some explanations to the pay gap, the report said that there does appear to be a gender bias against women.

The report cited international studies that showed identical CVs were often rated higher if the person was a father, compared to a childless male. However, this effect was reversed in the same study, which showed that identical CVs were marked down when told that the person was a mother, rather than a childless female.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said that the study outlined British attitudes to working parents, which favoured men over women. She said: "It says much about current attitudes that men with children are seen as more committed by employers, while mothers are still often treated as liabilities."

There have been various studies that show men earn more than women on average, whilst the Office for National Statistics (ONS) claimed that as of April 2015, the gender pay gap for full time workers stood at 9.4% in favour of men.



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