Mind the Gap
A German longitudinal study tracking 1,978 women between 2011 and 2020 found that after childbirth women are systematically assigned fewer analytical, complex and interactive tasks. Not fewer jobs. Fewer promotions, necessarily. Fewer of the tasks that build power.
When I read that, I did not feel outraged. I felt seen. Because long before the Journal of Marriage and Family put it into charts, I had noticed it in my own professional life.
What the data actually says
The researchers, Wiebke Schulz and Gundula Zoch, analysed five types of job tasks over a twelve-year period: analytical, complex, autonomous, interactive and manual. They observed that after motherhood, particularly when working hours are reduced, analytical and interactive responsibilities tend to decline.
These are not decorative tasks. Analytical and complex assignments are where strategic capacity grows. Interactive roles build networks, visibility and trust. They are stepping stones to leadership. The study’s key insight is simple: careers do not only stall because women leave work. They stall because the nature of their work changes. Even small reallocations compound over time.
Germany is not Cyprus. But assumptions about availability travel well across borders.
A single mother in Nicosia with a spreadsheet brain
I was born in Athens and have lived in Nicosia for twenty-two years. I am a single mother to a ten-and-a-half-year-old daughter who has entered puberty with impressive confidence. I am simultaneously navigating pre-menopause, which is nature’s way of reminding you that biology has a sense of humour.
Her father and I separated when she was seventeen months old. We were never married. He is present in her life. He loves her. He believes that his presence neutralises the word “single.” It does not. Single motherhood is not a dramatic identity. It is an operational reality. I am the primary contact for schools, the decision-maker for medical issues, the crisis manager when hormones collide with mathematics homework.
At the same time, I am deeply committed to my career. I am a Capricorn. I do not romanticise chaos. I organise it. I did not step back professionally when I became a mother. I did not request protection from complexity. I continued to pursue demanding work with full force. And yet, something recalibrated.
The quiet recalibration
No one removed responsibilities from me. That would have been obvious. Instead, the texture of the work shifted. Long-horizon strategic projects began to be discussed without me. High-interaction assignments that required constant presence were framed as “intense” or “demanding.” Complex negotiations were gently redirected toward colleagues presumed to be more predictably available. The language was polite. The logic sounded efficient. “This requires someone fully available.” Fully available. It is an interesting phrase. It implies that motherhood introduces partial commitment.
The German study describes this mechanism clearly. Managers often engage in anticipatory reassignment. Tasks are moved not because performance declines, but because of assumptions about future constraints. It is rarely malicious. It is structural.
The Mediterranean multiplier
In Mediterranean cultures, the mother remains the default adjuster. Even in modern households. Even with involved fathers. Employers internalise this norm. When something urgent happens, they assume the mother will be the one rearranging her day. They are often correct.
But from that reality, an inaccurate conclusion is drawn: that caregiving reduces capacity for complex work. It does not. It reduces uninterrupted time. Those are not the same thing. Single mothers, in particular, develop high-level logistical discipline because inefficiency is expensive. We do not have the luxury of operational confusion. The irony is that the very women considered “less available” are often the most ruthlessly efficient.
Why task allocation is the real story
Titles are visible. Salaries are measurable. Task allocation is predictive. Analytical and interactive responsibilities build influence. They generate the performance signals that lead to promotion. Remove access to them gradually and trajectories flatten without formal demotion.
The German data confirms this pattern. It shows that the motherhood penalty is not simply about time away from work. It is about who receives high-growth assignments after returning. This is not about sympathy. It is about structure.
Between puberty and perimenopause
There is an additional dimension rarely captured in labour studies: timing. Raising a pre-teen girl while entering pre-menopause is a masterclass in hormonal diplomacy. Some evenings resemble a negotiation summit with fluctuating mood indices. The next morning still requires strategic clarity. And yet, the expectation remains linear productivity. Here is the part often overlooked: resilience sharpens under pressure. Decision-making accelerates. Emotional intelligence deepens. Prioritisation becomes surgical. Motherhood did not dilute my ambition. It refined it. The problem is not competence. It is perception.
Structural correction, not personal accommodation
The researchers suggest making task allocation transparent. Employers should track who receives high-growth assignments before and after parental transitions. Patterns that feel anecdotal become visible when measured.
They also argue that flexible or reduced-hour roles should not automatically exclude complex responsibilities. High-level work can be modular. Leadership does not require permanent physical presence; it requires clarity and accountability. At policy level, expanded childcare and stronger incentives for paternal leave reduce the assumption that the mother is the automatic adjuster. These are institutional solutions. Strong women do not need saving. Structures need updating.
Strong is not the same as silent
There is no self-pity here. There is data, experience and a clear pattern. I remain ambitious. I remain capable of analytical, complex and interactive work. I am also raising a daughter who is watching how this unfolds. That matters. If the big projects stopped calling as often, it was not because my capacity diminished. It was because availability was misread. The question is not whether women can handle complexity after children. The question is why institutions still assume they cannot — and how long that assumption will survive serious scrutiny.