Workplace flexibility is key to helping women maintain their career trajectory after childbirth, new research has shown. The study found that women who could take advantage of flexible working hours were only half as likely to reduce their hours after the birth of their child. This effect was especially true in women who had used flexible working hours before the birth of their child and after, the researchers found. The researchers found that more than half of the women in the study reduced their working hours after the birth of their child, while less than a quarter of the women who could take advantage of flexible working hours reduced their hours. The researchers found that "for mothers of newborns, the perception of flexible working hours alone is not sufficient to address the work-life balance they face."
