Mothers £5,000 worse off after working hours fell 40pc in lockdown

Britons are working around half the hours they usually would during the coronavirus lockdown, with mothers most likely to be on reduced hours and pay, new research shows.

The average number of hours people are working has slumped by 40pc since March, researchers from the University College London found. Mothers in their 30s have cut their hours by more (52pc), with their average work week shortening from 21 hours pre-lockdown to 10 afterwards. 

Fathers of the same age have fared much better, cutting their hours by 37pc on average, from 40 per week to 25. The numbers include people who have stopped work completely during the pandemic. 

Joeli Brearley, of campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed, said mothers were taking on a disproportionate burden of childcare duties during lockdown, as nursery and summer school places became harder to come by. 

“Our research shows that around half of mothers simply do not have the childcare in place to be able to return to work. This lack of childcare is destroying women’s careers. They are being made redundant, they are being forced to cut their hours, and they are being treated negatively all because they are picking up the unpaid labour required to keep the country going,” she said. 

Mothers who cut down their hours to look after children will see their pay packets slashed. The average weekly pay in Britain is £585, according to the Office for National Statistics. An employee who cut their hours by 52pc would take home just £304 a week – a difference of £281. Over the course of a four-month or 18-week lockdown, this would mean losing out on £5,058. 

Women are much more likely than men to have been left financially worse off by the crisis. Around 35pc of women in their 30s are now in a worse position financially, compared with 25pc of men, the UCL researchers found. 

Many people without dependent children who have not had to cut down their hours have used staying at home as a chance to save. Almost 40pc of men in the same age group said their finances were in better shape since the lockdown. This was the case for just a quarter of women. 

Some mothers have not just cut down their hours but lost their job entirely. Pregnant then Screwed said it was receiving around 13 calls a day from new or soon-to-be mothers who had been made redundant. 

Almost half (46pc) of employed mothers that are losing or have lost their job said that a lack of childcare played a role in that, the group found.

Are you a mother that has found yourself worse off in lockdown? Tell us in the comments section below.