Last year’s Schools Workforce Census data from the Department for Education revealed women aged 30-39 are yet again the largest group of teachers to leave the profession.

In total, 8,965 women aged 30-39 left the classroom - 900 more than the total of both women aged under 25 and those aged 25 to 29 combined, and over 2,000 more than women aged 40-49.

This trend has been consistent since 2017-18 and is something everyone in education should be aware of. So, what’s going on?

Maternity penalties

In 2016, the Policy Exchange made the “obvious assumption” that this “bulge in leavers” was maternity related - indeed anywhere between 48 per cent and 90 per cent of the female teachers in this 30-39 bracket are mothers.

We don’t know specifically how many, though, because - despite their significance to our workforce - little attention is being paid to this demographic.

What is clear, is the stereotype of teaching as compatible with family life is misguided - with thousands of mother-teachers leaving the profession each year.

Even for those who remain in teaching, the “motherhood penalty” contributes to the gender inequality we see in our sector.

Women in education overall suffer from a gender pay gap of 18.1 per cent, with significant increases seen from classroom teacher to headship level, between the ages of 35-39.

With the average age of first-time motherhood standing at 30.9 years, and data from the Institute for Fiscal Studies finding that “there is a gradual but continual rise in the wage gap and, by the time the first child is aged 12, women’s hourly wages are a third below men’s”, mother-teachers are experiencing the same fiscal penalties we see in other sectors.

Leadership ceilings

What’s more, women, who make up almost three-quarters of our teachers, account for just 60 per cent of our leaders. In secondary schools only 40 per cent of headteachers are women.

A 2023 survey from Teach First found “half of the male respondents thought that the two roles” of parenthood and headship were “compatible” in comparison to just “35 per cent of female teachers and leaders”, substantiating earlier research from Marianne Coleman that found 90 per cent of male headteachers are fathers, but only 63 per cent of female headteachers are mothers.

Findings from the Maternity Teacher/Paternity Teacher Project’s (MTPT) 2018 study into female teachers aged 30-39 found that pregnancy, maternity and sex-based discrimination, restricted occupational mobility and progression and limited access to part-time and flexible working, particularly at leadership level, are experienced even by women who stay in the profession.

At what point, though, does the motherhood penalty become so unbearable it causes women in this 30-39 age bracket to quit teaching altogether?

Time to leave

The MTPT Project’s study, which surveyed 500 female teachers aged 30-39 who had left the profession, as well as 500 who had remained, found a “grains of sand” phenomenon whereby numerous push factors coincide when women take maternity leave, or in the first five years of being a mother-teacher.

Seven reasons in particular were chosen by the 500 respondents who had left the profession.

Unsurprisingly, workload topped the bill, reflecting headlines from DfE and independent reports on teacher retention.

Experience, evidently, does not reduce teacher workload, but rather highlights exactly how unmanageable it is when it conflicts with the non-negotiable commitments of motherhood.

Lifestyle choices (wanting to work fewer hours, seeking a better work-life balance or pursuing other interests), mental health and wellbeing, family commitments - specifically children - and negative school cultures were also included in the top five reasons women aged 30-39 chose to leave.

Pressure from educational monitoring bodies or school leadership, lack of flexible or part-time arrangements in teaching, and incompatible childcare logistics were also cited by a third of participants.

Overall, 50 per cent of those who had left teaching in this age bracket, a factor relating to motherhood had contributed to their decision to leave, with participants citing family commitments - children (43 per cent), incompatible childcare logistics (32 per cent) and maternity leave experiences (10 per cent).

Action must be taken

The DfE’s focus since 2020 on increasing flexible working opportunities within education through the appointment of flexible working ambassador schools and multi-academy trusts is welcome.

Indeed, 27 per cent of female teachers aged 30-39 who had stayed in teaching in the MTPT Project’s study referred to flexible working as a retention measure.

However, further insight from 70 qualitative interviews indicates approaches to part-time and flexible working vary greatly across schools.

Part-time positions, which are overwhelmingly filled by women, contribute to the gender pay gap and are used as solutions to unmanageable workloads and as a justification for limiting women’s progression.

Where flexible working is granted but implemented badly, we are likely to see simply a slower exit of female mid-career teachers from the profession.

This is an issue that every school and trust should be alert to.

After all, creating “life-friendly” schools will mean thousands of talented, experienced and hardworking teachers remain an active and vital component of the workforce.

What’s more, if we get this right for current mothers, it will ensure those in the future who consider having a family can be confident that a family-friendly career is possible.

Emma Sheppard is a lead practitioner for English and the founder of the Maternity Teacher/Paternity Teacher (MTPT) Project