'Fatherhood Premium' vs. 'Motherhood Penalty': How Australia’s care gap costs women $2M over a lifetime

In Usap Tayo, we discussed a report by the Australian Government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) on how deep-seated gender norms and structural barriers continue to place the primary burden of unpaid care on women, resulting in a staggering lifetime "motherhood penalty.

Women bear the burden of care in Australia. Credit: Pexels / Ketut Subiyanto

Key Points

• Despite more women entering the workforce, they remain the primary coordinators of care for children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, driven by social structures that frame care as "women's work.
• Australian mothers face a 55% drop in earnings during the first five years of parenthood and can earn $2 million less over their lifetime than fathers, who conversely often receive a 7.3% "fatherhood premium."
• Current flexible work and parental leave arrangements are heavily gendered, often penalizing women’s career progression while reinforcing a cycle of low pay and "occupational downgrading."

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