Addressing the Motherhood Penalty: How can the Open University's Mumentum Initiative supports young parents

The motherhood penalty, the well-documented disadvantage in workplace access and career progression experienced by women following childbirth is most commonly discussed in the context of mid-career returners. Yet its consequences extend significantly further, affecting young parents who have never yet secured a stable foothold in the labour market, and contributing directly to the United Kingdom's growing NEET population (young people who are Not in Education, Employment or Training).

Approximately 1 in 8 young people aged 16–24 in the UK are currently not in education, employment or training . Tackling this inactivity is a central concern of the government's skills agenda and sits at the heart of the Milburn Review. While the NEET population is diverse in its composition and circumstances, research consistently identifies parenthood as one of the most significant risk factors. The National Centre for Social research identified having a child as one of five key risk factors for NEET status among young people, alongside absence of qualifications above Level 1, limiting disability, poor mental health, and special educational needs.

These barriers are rarely a matter of choice or motivation. Unaffordable childcare, inflexible working arrangements, culturally insensitive employment support, and limited community provision all compound the difficulty of entering or re-entering the labour market. For young mothers, these challenges can delay or entirely displace the transition from education to employment, with long-term consequences both for individual economic outcomes and for broader gender equality (Klug et al., 2019).

OU research and toolkits can help address the motherhood penalty for NEET parents

Our #Mumentum initiative directly addresses these systemic challenges by providing flexible, affordable learning opportunities that fit seamlessly into parenting schedules, enabling young parents to build skills and qualifications at a pace and in a mode that reflects their lived reality.

Central to the initiative are two practical, research-informed toolkits, one for Employers and one for Parents, published in collaboration with the Department for Work and Pensions. These toolkits provide structured guidance to help mothers regain confidence, find paid work that works for them, or to plan their returns to work or education strategically.

The toolkits are now in active use across more than 650 Jobcentre Plus locations in Great Britain, with parallel distribution through the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland. Our toolkits challenge assumptions about what is possible in non-standard roles (for example, non-desk based, public-facing or shift work) and are informed by the experiences of diverse motherhoods. For example, our research highlights the realities of returning to work while navigating unaffordable childcare, culturally insensitive provision, patchy employer support, and limited community-based services.

By combining flexible learning provision with evidence-based employer and parental guidance, the OU's Mumentum initiative offers a replicable, scalable model for supporting young mothers out of NEET status and into sustainable employment.

Take the first step today

Explore our research-grounded Toolkits for Parents and Employers — designed to help young parents, managers, advocates, and communities champion inclusive opportunities for young people.

For young people looking to rebuild confidence, gain new skills, or explore a change in career direction, our OpenLearn platform offers free, flexible courses across a wide range of subjects. From digital skills and business fundamentals to health, wellbeing and the social sciences, OpenLearn provides a genuinely accessible entry point into learning that can fit around the realities of parenthood.

Jill Miller, Kendal Wright, and Wenjin Dai
Faculty of Business and Law
The Open University