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Despite what Nigel Farage thinks, working mothers can be good for any industry – not least advertising

By Soraya Shaw

January 24, 2014 | 4 min read

Nigel Farage’s comments this week about women being worth less than their male counterparts working in the City showed a politician who is clearly out of touch with what’s going on in the working world.

Soraya Shaw

The advertising industry is very different to the City, but both work long hours and experience the same pressures that come with any high-paced business environment. Quite simply, a woman working in any industry shouldn’t be faced with such blatant discrimination.

Farage glosses completely over the fact that we no longer live in a society where a woman has to decide between being a mother and having a career; as a mother myself I can genuinely say it’s unfair to expect us to do so.

Families can no longer depend on one person’s income alone, nor should they have to. The role of males and females have changed so much in the last 50 years that women can be bread winners as much as men can be stay-at-home fathers – even if Farage isn’t “one of them myself".

Indeed the role of working fathers, as much as mothers, has changed with a generational shift towards more fathers wanting to be involved in the upbringing of their kids, and taking a fair share of the responsibilities.

Technology means that working parents are more liberated than ever thanks to options such as remote working from home. The City has embraced such advances along with many other industries.

And while Farage’s comments do echo some valid fears from companies around disruption to their workflow, and the financial implications of having parents both on paternity and maternity leave, the benefits working parents offer easily outweigh any negatives. Quite simply, working parents want to work hard, they want to succeed and they want to be an important asset to their employer.

Having a diverse and mixed workforce which includes working mothers has been shown to boost productivity. Therefore more and more companies are introducing working parent schemes which deal head-on with any support they may need, including getting them back into work.

But it is also down to couples to share the responsibilities evenly and to be flexible with and for their employer. Many women pick up their kids after school and then switch back on to work additional hours in the evening. They are just as valuable as someone who spends the entire day in the office.

From our own experience, women tend to have greater loyalty to their organisations, because they want to be in a secure environment that they know they can return to should they have children, something men don’t tend to consider.

There are also plenty of examples of successful role models in our own industry who haven’t had to “sacrifice family life and remain childless to get ahead” – and many ad and media agencies placed a real focus on growing the number of women on their boards.

However, to suggest there is no discrimination in the workforce is ridiculous; there are plenty of studies and anecdotal evidence to the contrary. And clearly a lot more does need to be done in the City, our industry and further afield.

It’s an issue that is close to our hearts at NABS, and it’s why we plan to support working parents in our industry with a programme that provides advice and guidance at every step of the way.

Soraya Shaw is head of careers at advertising industry charity NABS

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