Self-Employed Mothers in Australia: Pushed by inflexibility, pulled by opportunity Preliminary Findings

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Self-Employed Mothers in AustraliaPushed by
inflexibility, pulled by opportunityPreliminary
Findings

• Meraiah Foley
• PhD Candidate
• Supervisors Professor Marian Baird
• Associate Professor Rae Cooper
• Discipline of Work and Organisational Studies
• University of Sydney Business School

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Self-employment is often touted in the popular
media as the Holy Grail for mothers seeking to
balance the demands of paid work with family life.
Images Coniville, N. The Rise of the
Mumpreneur, BodySoul Mums http//mums.bodyandso
ul.com.au/pregnancyparenting/parentingtips/ther
iseofthemumpreneur,16775
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Self-employment is often touted in the popular
media as the Holy Grail for mothers seeking to
balance the demands of paid work with family life.
But research on this group is scant, particularly
in Australia, where the focus has largely been on
womens employment in the organisational context.
Images Coniville, N. The Rise of the
Mumpreneur, BodySoul Mums http//mums.bodyandso
ul.com.au/pregnancyparenting/parentingtips/ther
iseofthemumpreneur,16775
4
As a proportion of the working population, male
business owners still outnumber female business
owners in Australia. 12.7 (791,500) male
compared to 8.5 female (442,300) in 2012.
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As a proportion of the working population, male
business owners still outnumber female business
owners in Australia. 12.7 (791,500) male
compared to 8.5 female (442,300) in 2012.
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Employment growth by gender 2007 to 2012
Source BankWest 2012 ABS Labour Force Detailed
Quarterly, May 2012
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Work patterns by gender 2012
Source BankWest 2012 ABS Labour Force Detailed
Quarterly, May 2012
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Work patterns by gender 2012
Source BankWest 2012 ABS Labour Force Detailed
Quarterly, May 2012
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Business operator status by sex and child care
provision status 2006
Source ABS 2008 (Counts of Australian Business
Operators, Cat. 8175.0)
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• Why focus on mothers?
• Rise of the mumpreneur narrative in the
  popular media.

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• Why focus on mothers?
• Rise of the mumpreneur narrative in the
  popular media.
• Significant evidence that it is motherhood, in
  particular, which carries a
• particular penalty in the workplace

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• Why focus on mothers?
• Rise of the mumpreneur narrative in the
  popular media.
• Significant evidence that it is motherhood, in
  particular, which carries a
• particular penalty in the workplace
• Getting a job

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• Why focus on mothers?
• Rise of the mumpreneur narrative in the
  popular media.
• Significant evidence that it is motherhood, in
  particular, which carries a
• particular penalty in the workplace
• Getting a job
• Asking for flex time

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• Why focus on mothers?
• Rise of the mumpreneur narrative in the
  popular media.
• Significant evidence that it is motherhood, in
  particular, which carries a
• particular penalty in the workplace
• Getting a job
• Asking for flex time
• Securing equal pay

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• The motherhood penalty finding a job
• A recent real-world audit by researchers at
  Stanford University found
• that women without children received 2.1
  times as many callbacks for a job
• interview as equally quali?ed mothers.

We found that evaluators rated mothers as less
competent and committed to paid work than
non-mothers, and consequently, discriminated
against mothers when making hiring and salary
decisions. Consistent with our predictions,
fathers experienced no such discrimination. In
fact, fathers were advantaged over childless men
in several ways, being seen as more committed to
paid work and being offered higher starting
salaries. (Correll et al.2007)
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• The motherhood penalty asking for flex time
• Researchers from Yale, Harvard and the
  University of TX found that male
• workers were significantly more likely than
  female workers (among both
• professional and hourly-wage earners) to be
  granted flexible working
• arrangements for either professional
  development or family reasons.

The association between women and motherhood is
so strong that even women who have proven
themselves by achieving a high-status occupation
and asking for further career training cannot
overcome this actuarial mistrust of women
workers. (Brescoll, Glass and Sedlovskaya, 2013)
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• The motherhood penalty (un)equal pay
• The existence of the motherhood penalty is
  well documented in the
• United States, Britain, Canada and Germany
  (but not in Sweden and
• Denmark).
• Does Australia have a motherhood penalty?

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• The motherhood penalty (un)equal pay
• The existence of the motherhood penalty is
  well documented in the
• United States, Britain, Canada and Germany
  (but not in Sweden and
• Denmark).
• Does Australia have a motherhood penalty?
• Hosking (2010) unexplained wage penalty of 6
  per child
• Livermore et al. (2011) unexplained wage penalty
  of 5 for the first child 9 for two or more
  children.

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Who are the mumpreneurs?
Questionnaires collected (n68) Benchmark study (n517)
75 aged 35-54 85 married or living with a partner 87 Australian citizens 77 are tertiary qualified 84 own only one business 91 sole-traders or micro-businesses Mostly service-sector businesses 51 operating between 1-5 years 65 started business lt 4,999 Start up funding savings, hhold -------------------------------------------------- 43 work gt 35 hours per week Mainly secondary-income earner Aged 30 Married with children Australian born/naturalised Well educated Owns only one business Sole-traders or micro-businesses Mostly service-sector businesses Majority operating 1-year plus Most started business lt 10,000 Start up funding personal savings -------------------------------------------------- Works full-time in the business Main household income earner X X
Source (Still and Walker 2006)
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• Preliminary Results
• Flexibility and autonomy are key motivators.
• Consistent with other studies into
  entrepreneurial motivation (Alstete 2003
• Borooah et al. 1997 Cassar 2007 Fox 1998)
  for males and females.
• Typically the desire for flexibility and
  autonomy is classified as a pull factor,
• i.e. people are drawn into to
  entrepreneurship by a desire for greater
• autonomy or control.
• But many of the women in this study talked about
  flexibility and autonomy
• as a must have not a nice to have a need
  rather than a desire.

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• Why choose self-employment?
• For many women, the relative lack of flexibility
  and autonomy in
• organisational employment acted to push them
  out of formal employment.

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• Why choose self-employment?
• For many women, the relative lack of flexibility
  and autonomy in
• organisational employment acted to push them
  out of formal employment.

I really, honestly dont believe I could go out
and get a job, given my current situation. I
don't believe any employer would accept my
position and my requirements ... I really,
honestly dont believe an employer would want
me. Interview 37, Marketing Consultant, 3 kids
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• Flexibility and autonomy revolve around three
  core areas

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• Flexibility and autonomy revolve around three
  core areas

I kind of wanted to be available for the
children And I didnt feel that my work and the
hours required would be flexible enough for me to
be available for the kids. And if I returned in a
part-time role, and that was all I was really
prepared to do, the types of work that I would be
able to take on would not be challenging. I
wouldnt get the same job satisfaction.
Interview 4, Architect, 2 kids
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• Availability of care especially in inner-city or
  remote rural areas or not being able to afford
  it, especially with multiple children. Includes
  OSHC.
• Lack of informal care networks.
• Child care Not wanting to use it full-time,
  though not judging those who do.
• Being there or Being available.
• Not wanting to rush In a practical, logistical
  sense, but also metaphorically.
• Guilt Whatever you do, its never enough.

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• Availability of care especially in inner-city or
  remote rural areas or not being able to afford
  it, especially with multiple children. Includes
  OSHC.
• Lack of informal care networks.
• Child care Not wanting to use it full-time,
  though not judging those who do.
• Being there or Being available.
• Not wanting to rush In a practical, logistical
  sense, but also metaphorically.
• Guilt Whatever you do, its never enough

External
Internal
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• Disconnect with school hours.
• Logistics long commutes, tired kids.

• External culture of face-time Even in ostensibly
  family-friendly, employer of choice contexts,
  there is a sense of external pressure to be
  there.
• Internal culture of face-time. Many women
  expressed an internal sense of pressure in being
  accountable, answerable to someone else.

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• Disconnect with school hours.
• Logistics long commutes, tired kids.

• External culture of face-time. Even in ostensibly
  family-friendly, employer of choice contexts,
  there is a sense of external pressure to be
  there.
• Internal culture of face-time. Many women
  expressed an internal sense of pressure in being
  accountable, answerable to someone else.

Walk of shame
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• Perception of poor quality part-time jobs.
• Sense of control over what types of work which
  clients building something meaningful.
• Trading off higher pay for better quality
  meaningful work.

Its a big sacrifice to not be with your kids in
many ways, so you want to be doing quality work
You need to be doing something you really like,
and you feel like is really useful. I think it
makes the value of the work, or the quality of
the work, matter more. Interview 15,
Consultant, 2 kids
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Motivating Factors A push-pull view
The constraints The lack of flexibility and
autonomy, and the (explicit or implicit) expectati
ons of organisational employment, combined with
good mother demands act as push factors for
many women.
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Motivating Factors A push-pull view
The constraints The lack of flexibility and
autonomy, and the (explicit or implicit) expectati
ons of organisational employment, combined with
good mother demands act as push factors for
many women.
The opportunity Whether they felt pushed or
pulled, most of the women viewed self-employment
as an opportunity to create meaningful work, on
their own terms. To be role models for their
children.
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• Other findings
• 63 do not make regular contributions to
  superannuation.
• 59 have never used the Australian
  governments superannuation co-
• contribution scheme (including 30 who were
  completely unaware of the
• scheme) , even though the majority of the
  women in the sample were
• earning below the income threshold in 2012.

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• Other findings
• 63 do not make regular contributions to
  superannuation.
• 59 have never used the Australian
  governments superannuation co-
• contribution scheme (including 30 who were
  completely unaware of the
• scheme) , even though the majority of the
  women in the sample were
• earning below the income threshold in 2012.
• 46 of respondents did not consider themselves
  to be entrepreneurs,
• including women running businesses earning
  more than 100,000 pa,
• citing their belief that to claim the title
  of entrepreneur, one must be an
• innovator, or create something risky (e.g.
  Richard Branson).

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• Other findings
• 63 do not make regular contributions to
  superannuation.
• 59 have never used the Australian
  governments superannuation co-
• contribution scheme (including 30 who were
  completely unaware of the
• scheme) , even though the majority of the
  women in the sample were
• earning below the income threshold in 2012.
• 46 of respondents did not consider themselves
  to be entrepreneurs,
• including women running businesses earning
  more than 100,000 pa,
• citing their belief that to claim the title
  of entrepreneur, one must be an
• innovator, or create something risky (e.g.
  Richard Branson).
• About half said they would not consider working
  for someone else again, unless it was absolutely
  necessary to do so.

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• Some policy implications
• Legislation needed to protect longer maternity
  leaves more guaranteed access to (truly)
  flexible working arrangements beyond just early
  childhood.
• More affordable, accessible quality child-care.

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• Some policy implications
• Legislation needed to protect longer maternity
  leaves more guaranteed access to (truly)
  flexible working arrangements beyond just early
  childhood.
• More affordable, accessible quality child-care.
• Better business advice, streamlined reporting
  requirements for sole-traders and
  microbusinesses.
• Flexible business hubs for self-employed people
  including on-site childcare.

The usual suspects
In the absence of major policy shifts
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Conclusion
Shelley, M. Meet the Mumpreneurs in the Business
World, The Daily Telegraph. 6 June
2011. http//www.dailytelegraph.com.au/meet-the-mu
mpreneurs-in-business-world/story-fn6b3v4f-1226069
634693
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Conclusion
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