No Mums Please we're Sexist

I got a press release last week entitled "New Maternity Legislation Prompts Employers To Think Twice About Recruiting Women".  It went on to say that:

changes to maternity legislation, introduced from 1st April 2007, are resulting in an increased reluctance to employ women, particularly among small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The independent research, commissioned by Citrix Online surprisingly reveals that 53% of employers believe the new regulations are making some managers think twice about recruiting women.

I have a few thoughts on this.  Firstly I think that SMBs (although I thought they were called SMEs) have always been aware of the "issues" involved in recruiting women of childbearing age and I'm sure that many already "think twice". 

Secondly saying you have a reluctance to employ women is quite different from actually saying you are prepared to discriminate against women. Given the choice most employers would probably prefer not to have to cover the cost and disturbance of having someone on maternity leave but it doesn't mean you decline to interview otherwise perfect candidates because they could be considering having children.

Thirdly (why am I so picky about surveys?) when I read further I saw that the survey was based on 202 interviews.  This means that if just eight less people had said they had "an increased reluctance to employ women" the title of the press release would be "New Maternity Legislation Hasn't Affected The Way Employers Think About Recruiting Women"!