Maternity leave: 50,000 women a year don’t get jobs back

Up to 50,000 women who take maternity leave each year are unable to return to the jobs they left behind because of discrimination by employers according to figures analysed by the House of Commons library. The research found that as many as 14 per cent of the 340,000 women who take maternity leave every year find their positions under threat when they try to return. Some are told that they cannot do their old job part-time and are forced into roles with less responsibility while others are effectively constructively dismissed. Those who do return to the same job sometimes find it harder to get promotion, leading to a growing pay gap between men and women in later life.
Maternity Gap - The Independent 27 August 2013