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Mums in Music puts the return-to-work gap in focus
Lola Ganzarolli’s campaign presses for better support for mothers.
Soprano Lola Ganzarolli’s Mums in Music campaign is drawing attention to the practical barriers facing mothers who want to resume creative work, from childcare costs to inflexible working arrangements.
Research promoted by the campaign found that only 7 per cent of respondents regarded the music industry as supportive of mothers returning to work. The finding concerns perceptions of support, rather than a measured proportion of mothers successfully returning to professional music employment.
The campaign describes its research as a study of 1,000 mothers. In the arts subgroup, 40 per cent identified inadequate workplace accommodation as a barrier; the same proportion cited affordable childcare and feeling that employers treated them differently after motherhood. Subgroup findings should not be read as percentages applying to every working musician.
Ganzarolli argues that motherhood can enrich an artist’s work, while a lack of institutional support can interrupt careers. Her initiative has combined advocacy with performance: a London event, A Journey Through Music & Motherhood, took place at St James’s Church on May 1, followed later that month by a Barcelona collaboration with poet Maria Kabanova.
The campaign’s activity predates the latest attention. It was introduced earlier this year, with research publicised in July, rather than launched for the first time in October.
The issue is also receiving attention from the Musicians’ Union. Its current survey, developed with Parents and Carers in Performing Arts, asks how government-funded childcare fits the working patterns of musicians. It is open to parents and carers of children under 18 and closes on November 6.
Together, the initiatives shift the discussion towards working conditions: when childcare is available, how rehearsals are scheduled and what support makes a return sustainable. They do not yet demonstrate that those conditions have changed, but they make the obstacles more specific and open to institutional action.