EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This research report covers key findings and recommendations from The Motherhood Penalty, a pilot action research project exploring how to improve conditions for mothers in the arts. The project partners include the Women in Theatre Lab and Women in Theatre research project and Parents and Carers in Performing Arts (PiPA). The idea for the project was conceived by Keira Malik, inspired by her experiences working on the Disney series “Queens”, the first-ever wildlife series steered by a women-led production team. The research was led by Jennifer Tuckett, lead on the 5 year Women in Theatre research project, which was run in partnership with The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, Equity, ERA 50:50, Stage Directors UK, Black Womxn in Theatre, PiPA, Sphinx and Aurora Metro Books amongst other partners and which led in 2025 to Arts Council England agreeing to launch a year long task force to investigate the issue of discrimination against women in the arts.