Motherhood is not a 'penalty'

A new study about women’s finances from Merrill Lynch/Bank of America and Age Wave will no doubt turn into unhelpful fodder in the broader discussion about the gender wage gap and wealth gap between the genders that is the result.

While most of the study is about the need to understand women better as financial consumers and investors — certainly a business priority for financial institutions — one section drives home the point that when women have a “temporary interruption” in their careers, they suffer a permanent setback in terms of earnings and wealth accumulation.