March is all about female empowerment! It is Mother's Day here in the UK and today is also International Women's Day with this years theme being "Break the Bias" so it felt right that Loving Small Business should recognise that with its choice of charity this month.
Pregnant Then Screwed are an invaluable charity started on International Women's Day in 2015 by Joeli Brearley. Two days after she informed her employer that she was pregnant with her first child, Joeli was sacked from her job by voicemail. She was four months pregnant and unemployed with bills to pay. Joeli considered taking legal action but then found out she was having a high-risk pregnancy and could go into labour at any moment. Her career and confidence were at rock-bottom and the health of her baby was in jeopardy.
Realising that her experience was not unique, Joeli launched Pregnant Then Screwed on International Women’s Day in 2015, as a space for mothers to share their stories of discrimination. The project quickly grew and today Pregnant Then Screwed is a charity dedicated to ending the motherhood penalty, supporting tens of thousands of women each year, and successfully campaigning for change.
54,000 women a year lose their job simply for getting pregnant. In addition, 390,000 working mums experience negative and potentially discriminatory treatment at work each year. These numbers almost doubled in a decade. Far from improving, the situation for working mums is rapidly deteriorating.
Pregnant women and new mums have limited access to justice, demonstrated by the fact that fewer than 1% of victims take legal action against a discriminatory employer. Discrimination has a negative impact on a woman’s confidence, her mental health and her earning potential and it is a direct contributor to the gender pay gap. In addition to pregnancy and maternity discrimination, women encounter a multitude of barriers when trying to have children and a career including being reliant on one of the world’s most expensive, dysfunctional childcare systems and a lack of access to good quality flexible working. We know that by the time a woman’s first child is 12 years old , her pay is 33% less per hour than a mans.
You can find out all about the incredible work they have achieved in the video below!
