The Motherhood Penalty
Channel: British Library
Date: 2021-03-21

Pregnant Then Screwed is a campaign that exists to end the motherhood penalty, lobbying on the many issues that impact working mothers and offering free advice and support to those who face pregnancy or maternity discrimination. For many, these conditions have only worsened during the pandemic. This session is a call to arms against unscrupulous work practices and systems, and a toolkit for how to challenge them.

 Joeli Brearley is the founder of Pregnant Then Screwed, which she established in 2015 after her own experience of pregnancy discrimination. She writes for the Telegraph, is a winner of the Northern Power Women Agent of Change award, is an Amnesty International Human Rights Defender and a member of the United Nations Working Group: Women’s Human Rights in the Changing World of Work. In January 2021 she took the Government to court for indirect sex discrimination, and is currently awaiting the verdict. Her debut book is Pregnant Then Screwed: The Truth About the Motherhood Penalty, and How To Fix It (Simon & Schuster).

 Eliane Glaser is the author of Motherhood: A Manifesto (which will be published by Fourth Estate in May 2021); Elitism: A Progressive Defence; Anti-Politics: On the Demonization of Ideology, Authority and the State; and Get Real: How To See Through the Hype, Spin and Lies of Modern Life. Eliane is also a BBC radio producer, a research fellow at the School of Advanced Study, University of London, and writes for publications including the Guardian, Prospect, and London Review of Books.