Calendar events like International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day are filled with messages everywhere you look, celebrating women and mothers. Social feeds are full of tributes, statements of appreciation, and reflections on the achievements and contributions of women everywhere.

But words of celebration alone aren’t enough. The real test comes in actual practice – inside companies, policies, and everyday working culture. If we truly want to honour women and mothers, we need to ensure they are supported not just symbolically, but structurally. One of the most important ways to do that is by enabling mothers to continue mothering while also continuing their careers.

A major barrier to this is what is commonly known as the ‘motherhood penalty.’ The motherhood penalty refers to the systemic disadvantages women often face in the workplace after becoming mothers. These can include reduced earnings, slower career progression, fewer leadership opportunities, and assumptions about their commitment or capability. While fathers often see little change in how they are perceived professionally, mothers frequently encounter bias that affects both pay and progression. Just think, how often have you heard someone suggest “we can’t/wouldn’t ask him to do X because he has kids”…?

This penalty compounds over time. Time away from work, reduced hours, or limited access to opportunities can translate into long-term financial impacts and stalled career trajectories. For many women, motherhood becomes a point at which their professional growth is disrupted – not because of a lack of ambition or ability, but because the systems around them were not designed with caregiving in mind.

That reality has been highlighted recently by Rethink Repayment, which has drawn attention to what it calls the ‘motherhood student loan penalty’.

In the UK, mothers on maternity leave continue to accrue interest on their student loans while their income is reduced. In practice, this means some mothers can end up paying significantly more over the lifetime of their loan than male counterparts who took the same amount, but did not step away from the workforce to care for a child. Up to £50,000 more in some professions. Excuse us while we pick our jaws off the floor…

It’s another example of a wider issue – many of the systems that shape working life, from career progression models to financial structures, were originally designed around uninterrupted, linear careers. Historically, those careers were far more likely to belong to men.

When viewed through that lens, the motherhood penalty is not simply an individual workplace issue. It is a structural one.

While systemic change requires policy reform and broader cultural shifts, organisations still have a powerful role to play in addressing the motherhood penalty.

At Clearbox, we’re a mostly female agency in a women-dominated industry,  so it’s something we take seriously – not just in how we talk about it externally, but the conditions we create for it internally.

Supporting mothers at work starts with recognising that becoming a parent should not mean stepping away from professional identity or ambition. Mothers should not have to choose between progressing in their careers and being present for their families.

It’s why practical policies matter. We are a very small company trying to do as much as we can, and our parental policies reflect this. We’re on a journey, taking as many steps as we can. (see our previous blog on this here.)

Enhanced maternity leave, for example, helps reduce the immediate financial pressures associated with taking time away from work after the birth of a child. It signals that organisations recognise the importance of that time and value the employees who take it.

Flexible working is another critical piece of the puzzle. When employees have the ability to adapt their working patterns – whether through adjusted hours, hybrid working or flexibility – it becomes far more realistic to balance caregiving responsibilities with professional commitments.

And we should note that these policies are not benefits – they are tools that help level the playing field.

Parenthood doesn’t pause during the workday. School runs, childcare logistics and illnesses are all part of daily life for many parents. For mothers in particular, these responsibilities largely fall on their shoulders, even with the best support system at home.

When companies acknowledge and accommodate this reality, they create environments where mothers can thrive rather than struggle to fit into systems that were never built with them in mind. And when mothers thrive, organisations benefit too. Diverse leadership, broader perspectives, stronger cultures, and higher retention all follow when people feel supported.

As we move from International Women’s Day to Mother’s Day, we think it’s worth reflecting on what meaningful support really looks like.

Public recognition matters. But the most powerful way organisations can honour women and mothers is through the policies they adopt, the cultures they build, and the barriers they actively work to dismantle.

The system may not have been designed for women – but that doesn’t mean it has to stay that way. Every organisation has the opportunity to be part of driving change and moving one step closer to workplaces that truly work for everyone.