Melissa NICHOLSON

MELISSA NICHOLSON: Job sharing enabled me to keep my demanding position without downshifting or dropping out. And it didn’t just keep me in the game—it ignited my career. I always say that I never had to take a career break. I never suffered the Motherhood Penalty because I was job sharing pretty much from the point I became a mother.

Introduction

INTRO: Welcome to Job Share Revolution. The show about job sharing—a partnership between two people to bring two minds and skill sets to one full-time position. I’m Melissa Nicholson, former job sharer turned founder of the first U.S. job share company. But it wasn’t long ago that I felt like an utter failure at work and as a new parent. Job sharing was my game-changer. I reclaimed four days a week to fully engage in my life while my capable partner handled everything. Together, we achieved more than I ever could solo. Fast forward to many lessons learned to bring you the training and support I wish I’d had to change lives and the modern-day workplace. Let’s live life and slay work.

Melissa NICHOLSON INTRO

MELISSA NICHOLSON: Hey friend, it’s Mel. I’m so glad you’re here, and I know that life is busy, so I thank you for spending your time with me on the Jobshare Revolution podcast, where every week we dive into workplace topics we hear are top of mind for you, from equity to wellness to flexibility, and of course, job sharing.

Welcome back to our special series on the seven biggest challenges driving the great working mom exodus of 2025.

We’ve covered a lot of ground so far—return-to-office mandates, cultural shifts around gender roles, the childcare crisis, and mental load and burnout. Today, we’re tackling something that has been stubbornly persistent despite decades of progress: the motherhood penalty.

And I want to tell you right now, this one makes me just seethe. It makes me so angry. Because we’ve known about this problem for so long, we have mountains of research proving it exists, and yet here we are in 2025, and it’s still affecting millions of women’s careers and earning potential.

But I also want to tell you something hopeful: Job sharing offers a way to bypass much of this penalty entirely. I’m living proof of that, and I’m going to share my story with you today.

So let’s dive in.

What Is the Motherhood Penalty?

For those who might be new to this term, let me explain what we mean by the motherhood penalty.

The motherhood penalty is the systemic bias and economic disadvantage that mothers face in the workplace compared to fathers and childless women. It shows up in multiple ways: lower pay, fewer promotions, assumptions about commitment and competence, and outright discrimination.

And the data is stunning.

Research shows that mothers experience a 15% reduction in earnings per child under five. Fifteen percent per child. So if you have two young kids, you’re potentially looking at a 30% hit to your earnings compared to your childless peers doing the exact same work.

Mothers are six times less likely to be recommended for hire than childless women. Six times. And they’re 8.2 times less likely to be promoted. Let that sink in. Eight point two times.

This isn’t about mothers being less capable or less committed. This is about deeply ingrained biases that assume mothers can’t possibly be both good mothers and good employees. It’s the “maternal wall” bias, where once you become a mother, employers view you differently.

And here’s what’s particularly insidious: The penalty is especially acute when children are very young, as employers assume caregiving responsibilities will interfere with work. Those crucial early career years when you should be building momentum? That’s exactly when the penalty hits hardest.

Why It Persists in 2025

So why? Why, despite all of our progress, does this penalty still exist in 2025?

Several reasons.

First, the ideal worker model. Workplaces are still largely designed around the “ideal worker” who is always available, never has caregiving responsibilities, and can work long hours without constraint. This model was built on the assumption of a male breadwinner with a stay-at-home wife handling everything at home. Sound familiar from our cultural shifts episode? That model never fit most people’s reality, and it certainly doesn’t fit mothers.

Second, unconscious bias is incredibly persistent. Even well-meaning managers hold unconscious stereotypes about mothers’ commitment and competence. Research shows that when reviewing identical resumes, the one with indicators of motherhood (like PTA involvement) is rated as less competent and less committed.

Third, lack of care infrastructure. As we talked about in our childcare episode, without accessible and affordable care, mothers are forced into impossible choices. Many have to downshift their careers, work part-time for lower pay, or leave entirely. These moves have long-term compounding effects on earnings and advancement.

And fourth, the DEI backlash. With diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives under attack in 2025, there i s deeper anxiety among women about job security and opportunity. The very programs designed to level the playing field are being dismantled, leaving mothers even more vulnerable.

The Real Cost

Let me put some real numbers on what this actually costs women over a lifetime.

Women caring for their parents lose $300,000 on average in lifetime earnings. Three hundred thousand dollars. That’s the sandwich generation penalty, which we’ll talk more about in the next episode.

But even for mothers focused on childcare, the penalty is enormous. When you factor in reduced salaries, missed promotions, career breaks, and the compounding effect on retirement savings, we’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars lost over a career.

For women on the leadership track, even a temporary step back to manage young children’s needs can create a permanent career plateau. You get off the fast track, and it’s incredibly hard to get back on.

And it’s not just about money. It’s about opportunity, influence, visibility, and the ability to do work that matters to you. The motherhood penalty steals all of that.

What Mothers Can Do

So what can mothers do to combat this penalty? Here are three strategic actions:

First, document and assert your value. Keep a detailed “brag file” of accomplishments, positive feedback, and project successes. Counter assumptions about your commitment and competence with concrete data. Use this during performance reviews and salary negotiations. Make your value undeniable.

Second, strategically negotiate for flexibility. At interviews or performance reviews, be confident in negotiating for flexible arrangements. But here’s the key: Frame flexibility as enhancing your productivity, not as a personal concession. You need to make the business case. Cite company data on the value of retaining female talent.

Third, normalize caregiving realities. Stop apologizing. Instead of “I’m so sorry, my kid was sick,” try “Thanks for your patience; I had a childcare situation.” Display your kids’ artwork in your office space. Visibly integrate your identities without shame. The more we normalize that parents are fully capable professionals, the more we chip away at the bias. Make sense?

And build your strategic network. Connect with other working parents through Employee Resource Groups and external professional networks. These groups offer vital support and a platform for collective advocacy.

What Employers Can Do

And employers, here’s what you need to do to meet this moment:

First, implement inclusive policies. Offer robust, equitable parental leave policies that cover both parents—not just mothers. This normalizes caregiving for all employees. Include adoptive parents and LGBTQ parents and the family structures that we have today, which are much broader than the 2.2 kids with a mother and a father. you need to be inclusive of what a modern-day family can look like and who needs that parental leave.

Provide clear “return” and “stay” policies, such as phased returns, mentorship programs for new parents, and career planning support. Job sharing can be an incredible way to phase a return.

Second, enforce anti-bias training and transparency. Provide mandatory anti-bias training for managers and hiring teams to combat unconscious stereotypes. But don’t stop there—ensure salary transparency and perform annual gender pay gap audits to correct any compensation inequities. Shine a light on the problem and fix it.

Third, offer tangible support. Go beyond acknowledging the problem. Offer on-site childcare facilities, partnerships with local providers and subsidies, and subsidized backup care. These aren’t perks—they’re essential infrastructure.

And fourth, focus on outcomes, not face-time. Shift performance metrics away from hours logged and office presence toward tangible results and contributions. This acknowledges that caregiving responsibilities affect availability but not competence or dedication.

My Personal Story

I’m going to get into my personal story, because this is where job sharing is just so mind blowing and powerful.

When my daughter Iris was born, I was working in the crazy insane 24/7 media world in a sales and marketing position. I loved my job. I was good at it. But I also wanted to be present. Present in a way for my infant that I just didn’t feel like I was squeezing her into the margins of my life.

Job sharing enabled me to keep my demanding position without downshifting or dropping out. And it didn’t just keep me in the game—it ignited my career. I always say that I never had to take a career break. I never suffered the Motherhood Penalty because I was job sharing pretty much from the point I became a mother.

Yes, initially, I exchanged a percentage of my income to do it. I went from a full-time income to splitting it 50/50 with my job share partner.  We were commission employees, so we were splitting the commission 50/50, but for most people who are in salaried positions, they are going to go from 100% salary to 60% salary for their three days a week, typically. But here’s what most people just don’t get, they don’t understand it; I never gave up steam in my career. The opposite was true.

Because I was bringing a partner to the role, we achieved just so much more together than I ever could have solo. We had two skill sets, two perspectives, two networks. We were a powerhouse team.

I felt so good about myself and our work. All that we were able to accomplish with our clients.  We were able to achieve these incredible results that never would have been possible. And that visibility, that performance—it accelerated my career, didn’t slow it down.

I negotiated my benefits upfront. I sat in a position of power during those negotiations because I had done my homework. I found the right partner, and we presented a compelling case. The flexibility I gained, the money was still solid. I had earned 90% of my previous year’s income by the end of my first year of job sharing. And the benefits were great; we both had full-time benefits. We’d negotiated them.

And you know what? Much less the supportive relationships I’d formed with my partners over the years—I never wanted to go it alone. Once you’ve experienced the power of true partnership at work, going back to solo feels lonely and isolating and unnecessarily hard. You cannot work in the same way that you work in a job share as a solo person.

The flexibility, the partnership, the ability to be fully present in my work and fully present in my life—I couldn’t imagine working any other way.

I avoided the motherhood penalty not by working part-time in a reduced role, but by restructuring a full-time position to fit my life. That’s the key difference.

And so many people go into a part-time role—if they can find one that’s meaty and good—and they end up negotiating their salary, then working much more in that part-time role than they negotiated, not having the ability to be promoted in that role because often they’re sidelined to projects that are kind of siloed. And there are really a lot of adverse effects.

There are just a lot of differences between part-time working and job sharing, though you technically are working in a part-time capacity.

How Job Sharing Bypasses the Motherhood Penalty

So let me break down specifically how job sharing addresses each aspect of the motherhood penalty:

Mitigates work-life conflict. Job sharing provides the flexibility that working parents, especially mothers of young children, desperately need. This model allows them to maintain a meaningful corporate career while accommodating the intense demands of caregiving for young children. And this works for business owners too. There are so many business owners and non-profit leaders who job share. You are not choosing between career and family—you’re doing both in a very sustainable way.

Combats perceived reduced commitment. Instead of being perceived as less committed because you need flexibility—you “need” is the key word—job-sharing mothers or people are seen as part of a reliable two-person team. This counters the “maternal wall” bias. Your commitment is visible in your partnership, your results, your presence on your work days. You’re not asking for accommodations—you’re offering a high-performing team.

Provides access to senior roles. This is huge. A job-sharing model makes demanding, senior-level corporate roles accessible to mothers who need the flexibility. You’re not getting sidelined into less challenging work. You’re staying on the leadership track. That is key. As part of a team, mothers can share leadership responsibilities and maintain their visibility in the organization.

Same thing for family caregivers. It’s an incredible practice for them.

And here’s, of course, the statistic I love, which I share often: Over 70%, 71% to be exact, of job share teams who apply are promoted together. That’s seventy-one percent. That’s so much better than many solo workers’ promotion rates.

Reduces burnout and enhances performance. By reducing individual working hours, job sharing helps alleviate the intense mental load and pressure that can lead to burnout. This allows mothers to focus on their work during their hours and recharge during their time off, leading to higher engagement and higher job satisfaction.

When you’re not burnt out, you perform better. You’re more creative, more strategic, more effective. And that gets noticed. And it gets rewarded.

Maintains earning potential and benefits. Sounds too good to be true, is true. Sometimes that’s the case. While you’re working part-time hours, you’re in a full-time position with full-time benefits—healthcare, retirement contributions, paid time off. And as your job share gets promoted with raises, your income grows too.

You can also negotiate into a promoted position in your job share. You can give yourself a bump before you even start job sharing, especially if you come into somebody else’s position who’s one rung ahead of you.

So let’s run those numbers. Say your job share gets a 20% raise after a year—remember, you’re one team in one position. That 60% salary for each partner goes from $48,000 to $57,600. Add in another promotion a couple years later, and you’re at $69,120 for part-time work with full-time benefits and zero burnout.

Compare that to the alternative: leaving the workforce for a few years and trying to re-enter at a lower level, or staying in a full-time role and burning out so completely that your performance suffers and you get passed over for promotions. And besides that, you’re just flattened out as a person. Like, you’ve just lost all your fervor for your job and for your impact.

Job sharing lets you keep building your career at the exact moment when the motherhood penalty typically derails it.

The Partnership Advantage

And there’s something else about job sharing that specifically combats the motherhood penalty: the partnership itself.

When you’re working with a partner, you have someone who has your back when life throws you a curveball. Sick kid? Partner covers. Parent-teacher conference? Partner covers. Doctor’s appointment unexpectedly happens? Partner covers. Something comes up on the home front? Partner covers.

This means you’re not constantly having to ask for accommodations or explain your needs. The structure handles it. And that visibility of needing flexibility—which often triggers bias—is minimized because your partner is there ensuring continuous coverage for your employer, your clients, your stakeholders.

Plus, on that one handover day each week when you’re both working, you’re showcasing exactly what two professionals can do together. You’re visible. You’re this a high-performing team, and everybody sees it. You’re in meetings together, presenting together, solving problems together, dividing and conquering. Accomplishing twice the workload—together. That partnership is an asset, not a liability.

Closing

So let me wrap this up. The motherhood penalty is real, it’s persistent, and it costs women enormously over their careers. Despite all our progress, mothers in 2025 are still facing systemic bias that limits their earnings, promotions, and opportunities.

But here’s what I want you to know: You don’t have to accept it.

For mothers: Document your value, negotiate strategically, normalize your caregiving realities, and seriously consider job sharing as a way to maintain your career trajectory without sacrificing your presence in your children’s lives.

For employers: Implement inclusive policies, enforce anti-bias training, provide tangible support, and embrace flexible models like job sharing. The retention and performance benefits are undeniable.

Job sharing allowed me, empowered me, enabled me—whatever word you want to use…Job sharing allowed me to bypass the motherhood penalty altogether. It never hit me. It never derailed my career. I never stopped contributing to my 401K while I was job sharing. I never stopped growing as a professional when I was job sharing. I was never seen as less than anything but a complete badass at work. A leader.

I kept my demanding career, I was there for my kids, and I was there for myself. And I felt fulfilled in both of those roles. That is not luck—that is a strategy. And it’s available to you, too.

Next episode, we’re diving into inadequate support for eldercare. This is one that I know so much about personally as a sole family member caregiver to my mom Elaine.  So as a member of the sandwich generation, this one is deeply personal to me. W  e’re going to talk about what it’s really like and how job sharing can help dual caregivers keep their careers.

If this episode opened your eyes to the motherhood penalty or showed you a path forward, please share it with a friend who’s navigating these challenges. Let’s spread the word that there is a better way.

We’ve already lost 450,000 women—mothers, especially mothers of young children—in the first seven months of 2025. Let’s not lose anymore. And let’s make sure that you’re not one of them. Let’s spread the word that there is a better way.

Remember, friend—it is all in you. I am sending you so much love this week. Take care of you this week. I’ll see you Tuesday after next, same time, same place. Bye for now!