I don’t have many things in common with Serena Williams, a world-famous athlete who has been ranked singles world number 1 in tennis and holds the record of 23 Grand Slam titles. A woman who has four Olympic gold medals, a glittering cast of Hollywood friends, and graces the cover of this month’s US Vogue. But when she told the magazine this week that she’s decided to step back from tennis to focus on her family, because ‘something had to give’, I found myself nodding along in weary recognition.
Talking about her daughter Olympia, who turns five this month, Serena told the interviewer she overheard the little girl in the car talking to an education app. When it asked her what she wanted to be when she grows up, Olympia replied, ‘A big sister.’
Serena, who is the youngest of five sisters herself who she has described as her ‘heroes’, went on to say that she’s ‘evolving away from tennis,’ towards other things that are more important to her. Namely, focusing on her family and trying for another baby with her husband, tech entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian. ‘Believe me, I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family,’ she says. ‘I don’t think it’s fair. If I were a guy, I wouldn’t be writing this because I’d be out there playing and winning while my wife was doing the physical labor of expanding our family.’
Instead, she’s making a choice still being made by many women, which is, career or family?
Several studies have found that mothers are more likely to adjust their careers to work around their families than fathers are, whose careers tend to have fewer breaks and interruptions in them. Three quarters of all part-time jobs in the UK are currently held by women, and a study from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found those who work part-time after having children are more likely to suffer the extremes of the gender pay gap, largely due to lower levels of pay and career progression among part-time workers.
Many of our readers have told us that they've scaled back or given up their careers due to the cost of childcare, something Grazia has been campaigning about since last year when we launched our ‘Childcare Change Now’ campaign, calling on the government to lead a full and independent review into the cost of childcare. The UK has the second most expensive childcare in the OECD and it’s rising. Research from the charity Pregnant Then Screwed recently found that 43% of mothers are considering leaving their jobs due to childcare costs, with one in five working in less senior roles than their ability to ease the burden of childcare bills.
According to the Fawcett Society, for each year a mother is absent from the workplace her future wages fall by 4%. By the time a mother returns to work full-time, her male partner will on average be earning 21% more than her.
Another study recently found that the number of women aged between 25 and 34 not working has soared by 13% in the past twelve months. ‘And what do those women have in common?’ asks Joeli Brearley, founder Pregnant Then Screwed. ‘They’re often raising young children.’
But it’s not always the cost of childcare that keeps women out of the workplace, but rather a myriad of reasons. Sometimes it’s because the mental load that comes with raising a family often falls to them, and the juggle is too great. Sometimes it’s that they want to spend more time with their children. All families are different, as are their circumstances
In Serena’s case, she has previously told Vogue that she almost died after Olympia’s birth in 2017 due to complications that kept her bedridden for six weeks after the birth. And she has said, ‘I definitely don’t want to be pregnant again as an athlete. I need to be two feet into tennis or two feet out.’
Her comments come weeks after England’s spectacular victory at the Women’s Euro 2022. Last month, Grazia interviewed former England player and mother of three Katie Chapman, who publicly battled for more support during her playing days, and who said: ‘In women’s football there was never a right time to have a baby. As soon as I’d get the call inviting me to be part of the England squad, I’d start putting a childcare plan in place. Week to week, playing for a club, it was that constant switch over - my husband would come home from work and I’d go to training.’ In January 2022, however, the Football Association (FA) announced plans for female players to be granted paid maternity leave and maternity rights.
Of her own decision to step away from tennis, Serena says: ‘I’m going to be honest. There is no happiness in this topic for me. I know it’s not the usual thing to say, but I feel a great deal of pain… I hate that I have to be at this crossroads… I’m torn: I don’t want it to be over, but at the same time I’m ready for what’s next.’