City firms hiring 'Parenting Consultants'

“Professionals seek professionals,” Kathryn Mewes, a Parenting Consultant, says to the Financial Times (FT).

Mewes is one of many Parenting Consultants who is now paid to give parenting seminars at corporate companies. She explains why her help is sought after: “Parents are getting older; they have been in control their whole lives and been successful. Suddenly a baby turns up and life turns on its head.”

Anita Cleare - a parenting speaker, writer and coach at The Positive Parenting Project – makes the business case for an employer paying for parental advice to the FT: “If you’re not sleeping at night or worried about your teenager, it can impact productivity.”

The high cost of motherhood also places additional strains on staff. Commenting on Glassdoor’s Economic Research report last week, Dr Andrew Chamberlain, Chief Economist at Glassdoor, said: “The gender pay gap widens amongst working women with children. British working mothers are significantly worse off than those without family responsibilities, and this pressure will not help the UK address its workplace diversity issues.”