Pregnancy, maternity, parents and carer related microaggressions
Contents
- What are pregnancy, maternity, parents and carer related microaggressions?
- Different types of discrimination:
- Direct Discrimination
- Discrimination by association
- Indirect discrimination
- Harassment
- Victimisation
- What do pregnancy, maternity, parents and carer related microaggressions look like?
- How to recognise pregnancy, maternity, parent and carer related microaggressions?
- Micro Affirmative Behaviours
- Download the posters
1. Pregnancy, maternity, parents and carer related microaggressions - what are they?
In the RPS Inclusion and Diversity strategy, being a parent and carer was highlighted as one of the key barriers to working in pharmacy requiring more support and improvement, individuals also felt that pregnancy and maternity status was a barrier to working in the profession.
Individuals going on or returning from maternity or paternity leave, parents and carers may experience negative attitudes and microaggressions within the workplace which are a combination of misinformation, assumptions, stereotypes, judgemental, outlooks and biases culminating in actions, comments or attitudes that communicate microaggressions and negative attitudes to parents and carers.
This document considers microaggressions from pregnancy including difficulties in pregnancy through to being a parent or carer and onwards.
There is a need to create judgement free working environments that challenge societies ingrained culture around pregnancy, maternity and being a carer as it slows a woman’s career progression and devalues the time new fathers spend with their children and needing to care for a spouse or family member. We would also like to challenge the additional barriers that parents and carers experience if they have additional protected characteristics such as sex, disability, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.
It is well documented that women have a higher caring burden compared to men, which will impact their career opportunities, resulting in not having the same opportunities to apply for senior roles. This in turn worsens the gender pay gap. For men, if they’re the primary care provider, they may face prejudices and negative views in taking on this role for their family. Or have difficulty in accessing flexible working arrangements.
Individuals from an ethnic minority background may experience biases and discrimination preventing them from being represented and visible in senior leadership roles, which maybe compounded by the barriers experienced as a parent or carer. Women from an ethnic minority will be disproportionality impacted.
Members from the LGBTQIA+ community face discrimination and microaggressions which will be compounded by being a parent or carer, or they may experience additional discrimination for being a parent in a same-sex couple.
Single parents may also experience additional discrimination, and certain groups including single parents of colour often face additional layers of stigma and discrimination.
Being a parent or carer is not a protected characteristic, however parents and carers maybe covered by other protected characteristics including:
- Sex
- Pregnancy and maternity
- Disability
- Marriage and civil partnership
You can find out more about what sex and disability related microaggressions may look like in our Gender and Disability related microaggressions references.
Pregnancy and maternity discrimination occurs when a woman is treated unfairly because of her pregnancy, pregnancy related illness or intention to take maternity leave. Examples of unfair treatment include:
- Being dismissed, removal of responsibilities or seniority.
- Excluded from training as you’re going on maternity leave.
- Not being given a promotion because you’re pregnant or on maternity leave.
Marriage and Civil Partnership discrimination, this can happen when a person is treated unfairly because of their marital status or because they are in a civil partnership. Examples of indirect marriage or civil partnership discrimination are:
- A married partner may potentially be able to claim indirect martial discrimination if an employer has a policy or practice that disadvantage married people compared to non-married people
Disability, most relevant to parents and carers roles, they may experience direct and indirect associative disability discrimination. This occurs when they are treated less favourably than someone else because of being associated with a person with a disability.
2. Different types of discrimination
There are different types of discrimination:
Direct Discrimination
Direct discrimination refers to situations where someone is treated less favourably if they’re pregnant, a parent or a carer.
A pregnant woman may have experienced discrimination if they have been intentionally excluded from a training opportunity because they’re pregnant.
Your job is changed unfavourably on your return from leave, as you have been on maternity leave.
Carers may experience direct discrimination by being discouraged to apply or not being given a role because of their caring responsibilities.
Discrimination by association
This falls under two acts of discrimination; direct associative disability discrimination and indirect associative disability discrimination.
Direct associative disability discrimination
This is when someone is treated unfavourably because they’re associated with someone else who has a disability. For example, if a parent of a disabled child is treated less favourably than a parent of a non-disabled children because they have a disabled child.
Indirect associative disability discrimination
This could occur for parents and carers when an employer requires something of or imposes a working practice that puts those parenting or caring for someone with a disability at a disadvantage compared to those who do not.
For a carer, this could be a change from working from home to being made to go into the office which you’re unable to commit to due to caring responsibilities. As a result of being unable to go into the office, you’re dismissed.
Discrimination by association can also be experienced in pregnancy or maternity if the partner has been discriminated again due to association.
Indirect discrimination
It is indirect discrimination to have a rule, a policy or practice which applies to everyone, however, puts individuals who are pregnant, parents and carers at a disadvantage.
An example of this may be seen if there is a change in service delivery which will include late night and weekend working which negatively impact individuals who are pregnant, parents and carers.
Within recruitment, specifying roles must be full-time, therefore excluding many working parents and carers – this will disproportionately impact women as they tend to be the main carer givers.
Harassment
Harassment in the workplace occurs when someone makes you feel humiliated, offended or degraded based on your pregnancy, maternity and carer status. This behaviour can include bullying, nicknames and threats.
An example of this could be, if you’re pregnant then people accusing you of having a ‘baby brain’
Victimisation
This is when you’re treated badly because you have made a complaint of being discriminated against due to being pregnant, returning from maternity leave and being a carer.