Mothers Day cards.Whether explicit or not, many politicians rest their policies on mothers accepting the ‘mental load’ – the list of caring and logistical tasks that underpin day to day life. But as tech bros now dominate public life, its time this group of overworked and undervalued labourers rebel – and we address the damage inequality is doing according. It’s time for mothering Independence Day.The narrative that mothering should be difficult is so ingrained we rarely question it. There’s few other roles with so many memes dedicated to celebrating ‘struggle and juggle’ and in doing so failing to liberate those at the sharp end. Yet the motherhood penalty pockmarks society, damning women to frustrated lives, men to outdated gender stereotypes and ultimately harming economic growth.The very capacity to carry children means women face discrimination from employers fearing maternity rights obligations – a risk that will harden with the Employment Rights Bill, which improves maternity protection but not paternity rights, so reinforcing the notion its ‘ladies who do babies’.Have a kid and say goodbye not just to your beach body but your pay packet and credibility at work. As Joeli Brearley argues: “Men get pay rises and promotions when they have kids.. women get pay cuts and demotions when they become a mother.”