The Catholic Bishop for Marriage and Family Life has condemned the “unlawful discrimination” of some British employers after new research revealed that managers had refused, or would refuse, to hire a woman because they “might start a family soon”.
The Bishop of Northampton, Peter Doyle, described the findings as “sad”, saying they reveal a “potential threat to flourishing family life in the contemporary world”.
“We live in a time where, in many families, both parents must work in order to support themselves and their children.
“If only one partner is able to work due to the other facing gender-based discrimination, there is a danger that family life will suffer,” Bishop Doyle said in an interview with Catholic newspaper, The Universe.
Bishop Doyle cited Pope Francis’ 2016 exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, noting that the Pope explores the subjects of women’s rights, equality and work, as well as pastoral care of families. In it Francis writes: “Families, in particular, suffer from problems related to work.”
The study of 500 managers, conducted by the British law firm Slater and Gordon, found that nearly one in three bosses had rejected, or would reject, a job application from a woman out of concern that she would become pregnant.
As many as one in seven admitted they had broken the law, while almost two-out-of-five bosses admitted they would advertise jobs for men only if the law allowed.
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