{"id":303065,"date":"2025-11-24T04:40:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T04:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/303065\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T04:40:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T04:40:13","slug":"motherhood-changes-how-women-spend-save-and-think-about-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/303065\/","title":{"rendered":"Motherhood changes how women spend, save and think about money"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mothers aren\u2019t just losing the income, promotions and career advancements<\/a> that we\u2019ve known about for quite some time. They\u2019re also quietly spending their own money, absorbing more day-to-day costs and making financial sacrifices that place them at a long-term disadvantage.<\/p>\n

We already knew about the impact of motherhood on women\u2019s income. A 2015 study by Statistics Canada<\/a> shows that mothers earn 85 cents for every dollar earned by fathers. Ten years after the birth of their first child, mothers\u2019 earnings are still around 34.3 per cent lower than they would have been without children<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But our research also reveals that women\u2019s relationship with money is rewired with motherhood and that having children changes their financial decisions and spending habits<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Study participants describe two competing narratives when discussing their personal finances. On the one hand, they view motherhood as a financial project they must manage independently, within the limits of budgets and cost-benefit considerations. On the other hand, they also see motherhood as a role that requires financial sacrifice, where children\u2019s needs and well-being take priority over all financial considerations.<\/p>\n

The true cost of motherhood<\/p>\n

Motherhood comes with a price. Studies have shown that becoming a mother negatively affects women\u2019s finances and career<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Some research suggests that among other changes, their colleagues might start to perceive their competence and commitment to their professional work less favourably<\/a>. Mothers also face intensified work-life balance pressures, often leading to part-time employment<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Women are 19 times more likely than men to cite \u201ccaring for children\u201d as the primary reason for working part-time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But beyond the well-documented motherhood penalty<\/a> \u2014 the name given by social scientists to this phenomenon of workplace disadvantages \u2014 and the impact of motherhood on women\u2019s income, our qualitative study<\/a> reveals that motherhood alters the relationship women have with money. <\/p>\n

We interviewed mothers living in the Canadian province of Qu\u00e9bec to better understand how they manage their finances after having children, and found that motherhood reshapes how mothers spend and think about money.<\/p>\n

When asked about how they manage expenses related to their children, participants in our study said they feel they must navigate competing societal expectations<\/a> that drive them to juggle two narratives \u2014 seeing the financial aspect of motherhood as, one, a project to manage, and, two, as a sacrifice to make for their children.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Among other changes, when women become mothers, their colleagues start to perceive their competence and commitment to their professional work less favourably.
\n (Unsplash)<\/p>\n

Taking on the role of financial strategist<\/p>\n

Mothers, on one hand, strive to be autonomous financial managers capable of developing financial strategies and making decisions considered economically responsible for their families<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As a study participant described:<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything goes through my account, I manage everything. I like it that way too. I\u2019m a very meticulous person [\u2026] I like to be in control of the budget.\u201d<\/p>\n

This leads them to create \u201cbaby budgets,\u201d tracking and comparing the prices of different diaper brands in spreadsheets, or setting up savings strategies for their children\u2019s potential future education.<\/p>\n

This vision of themselves as independent financial managers, coupled with their desire to fully take on the financial responsibilities of having children, sometimes leads participants in our study to shoulder certain child-related expenses on their own without sharing full details with their co-parent or asking the co-parent to contribute to everyday costs such as food, clothing or family activities.<\/p>\n

Another person in the study explained:<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that I buy more things for the children. I put them on my card so I know that there are more expenses that I incur as extras \u2026 But, at the same time, that\u2019s what I like. I love shopping for them. It\u2019s a gift for me too. But sometimes, I find it a little annoying. I really devote myself a lot to the family, buying things for the house, the family.\u201d <\/p>\n

The cultural script of maternal self-sacrifice<\/p>\n

Mothers also see themselves as the primary caregivers responsible for making financial sacrifices for their children<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Within this narrative, participants in our study tend to believe that being a good mother means putting their children first, doing everything possible to ensure their happiness and well-being and not tracking the time and money they devote.<\/p>\n

As another shared:<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what being a good mom is all about [\u2026] you can\u2019t count that. You don\u2019t count the time, being present, taking care of them, the activities, the clothes, everything. You don\u2019t count the expenses, you\u2019re the person they go to.\u201d<\/p>\n

This can lead mothers, for example, to put their children\u2019s future ahead of their own, prioritizing education savings or splurging on non-essential items they believe will make their children happy over their own retirement.<\/p>\n

This view of motherhood that normalizes financial sacrifice also appears in mothers\u2019 reluctance to calculate the full cost of raising their children and the overall impact of these expenses on their own financial situation, as if determining the amount of money spent on a child were somehow incompatible with the maternal ideal of selfless devotion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gender inequality\u2019s long-term financial fallout<\/p>\n

This shift in women\u2019s financial perspective highlights some factors behind the persistent gaps between women\u2019s and men\u2019s personal finances<\/a>. In Canada, the gender pension gap is at about 17 per cent, meaning that \u201cfor every dollar of retirement income men receive, women get only 83 cents\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The additional mental load carried by mothers<\/a> doesn\u2019t just cost them time and energy, it takes a real toll on their budgets too.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A new study shows that mothers tend to believe that being a good parent means putting their children\u2019s first, even before their own basic survival needs.
\n (Unsplash)<\/p>\n

In fact, financial burdens can fall unevenly within couples and between co-parents. Many participants said that they focus on shouldering the financial responsibilities of motherhood independently, no matter the impact on their finances or the contribution from the other parent.<\/p>\n

Over time, all of this can contribute to reduced savings and lowered retirement security for mothers, reinforcing the disparities in wealth accumulation and the gender pension between men and women. <\/p>\n

Our findings highlight that the true cost of motherhood goes beyond what meets the eye and the need for a broader recognition of the financial labour that mothers bear. We, as a society, must better support them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mothers aren\u2019t just losing the income, promotions and career advancements that we\u2019ve known about for quite some time.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303066,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[45,49,48,133,131,132],"class_list":{"0":"post-303065","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-finance","12":"tag-personal-finance","13":"tag-personalfinance"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}