Ln January 16, the President of the Republic surprised us with the falsely ambitious project of a “demographic rearmament” aiming to “unblock the economic and social obstacles to the desire to have children”.
Several feminist organizations have rightly been moved by the choice of words that accompany this pronatalist policy. Beyond a questionable and retrograde vision of the birth rate, this project is marked by the invisibility and total ignorance of the issues of salary discrimination linked to pregnancy.
One of the key measures of “demographic rearmament” is the introduction into the labor code of “birth leave”, replacing the current parental leave. Today, parental leave allows employees to suspend their employment contract until their child is 3 years old. The new birth leave would be of shorter duration (six months) but in return for higher remuneration.
Major discrimination
This measure can only be surprising due to its ignorance of the real issues of motherhood on the careers of employees. To consider the temporary reduction in salary during parental leave as the main obstacle to the desire to have children is to refuse to see that women still suffer major discrimination because of their pregnancy, on the job market as well as in business.
On January 15, 2023, Oxfam reminded us that women still earn on average 28.5% less than men. Part-time jobs are 76% occupied by women. This over-representation of women in atypical contracts is not the result of a choice. It can be explained by the fact that women continue to carry out the majority of domestic tasks, made heavier by the arrival of a child: this is the famous “Second Shift”. [la « deuxième journée de travail », constituée par les tâches domestiques à faire lorsque les femmes rentrent chez elles] described by sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild.
The vicious circle quickly sets in: absorbed by the mental load of motherhood, women often find themselves forced to cancel meetings, adapt their professional schedule and then turn to part-time jobs. The employer in turn entrusts them with fewer responsibilities, anticipates the arrival of the second child and slowly puts the glass ceiling in place.
Professional career in danger
The keystone of this discriminatory system is the unequal distribution of leave between spouses. Maternity leave is now sixteen weeks, eight of which are compulsory.
You have 50% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.