[2] Both men and women with caregiving responsibilities, such as taking care of a sick parents or spouse, may also result in maternal wall discrimination.
The first major maternal wall case, Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corp., appeared before the United States Supreme Court in 1971.
[7][8] According to expectation states theory, women will be categorized as mothers when they give some behavioral indicator that they are a primary caretaker, such as becoming pregnant.
Groups who are viewed as high in warmth, but low in competence elicit feelings of pity and a paternalistic response which may result in discrimination.
[3] The maternal wall is regarded as a self-imposed barrier, where women expecting motherhood self-select into occupations that require lower levels of skill and education because they anticipate less participation in the labor force over their lifetime.
Economist Gary Becker follows a "work-effort" hypothesis, which suggests that employed mothers do not perform as well as men because of their choices, such as refusing to "work odd hours or take jobs requiring much travel".
Social welfare programs have successfully been implemented in several countries, including Sweden, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
[2] For people with care-taking responsibilities, work–life balance is difficult to achieve, resulting in an increased likelihood of encountering the maternal wall.
[20] Research has found that mothers who use work-family policy programs can experience slower wage growth compared to those who don't.
[21] In a 2004 longitudinal study that analyzed employed mothers' wage growth for 7 years post-childbirth, it was found that women who used work-family policies such as reduced working hours, remote work, childcare assistance, and flextime had slower wage growth compared to those who didn't.
[21] In a laboratory study conducted by Correll, Bernard, and Paik (2007), participants were given the resumes of a parent and non-parent with equivalent qualifications and asked to complete an employee evaluation.
[22] Results indicated that mothers were rated as significantly less competent, less committed, less promotable and less likely to be recommended for management than non-mothers.
In a laboratory study by Halpert, Wilson, and Hickman (1993), participants viewed one of two videotapes of a female manager and were then asked to rate her performance.
[9] Another study examined the effect of pregnancy on employment, and found that pregnant women encountered more hostility when applying to traditionally masculine jobs.
[24] The majority of maternal wall lawsuits are filed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination in employment.
[25] The act states that "an employer may not discriminate against and employee on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; and women affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions must be treated the same as other persons not so affected but similar in their ability or inability to work.
The majority of maternal wall lawsuits are filed under Title VII, which prohibits sex discrimination in employment.