TAIPEI, Taiwan - Around 75 percent of mothers who return to the workplace receive on avage a monthly salary that is NT$7,106 (S$300) less than what they earned before becoming a parent, according to results of a job bank's survey reported by local media yesterday.

The biggest issues moms face when trying to be employed again include: employers' general unwillingness to grant job offers and less decent vacancies with lower paychecks, based on the results of the 1111 Job Bank's survey.

Out of the 66.3 percent of the married women aged between 15 and 64 who were once forced to quit their jobs for marriage and parenting, only 15 percent have made it back to the workplace, the official statistics from the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed.

On average it takes six years for mothers to land a job again, said the DGBAS.

The survey also found that only 28 percent of the mothers get to secure a position similar to their previous occupations, while up to 35 percent have to work in a totally different field.

With an average salary of NT$29,493 (S$1,280) per month, roughly 40 percent of the moms are doing administrative work, about 27 percent are serving as human resource staff and around 24 percent are in-office workers, the survey unveiled.

Since mothers are stereotyped as a group burdened with their family, which could affect their work, it is hard for them to be reaccepted to the workplace, explained Henry Ho, the job back's public relations director.

The difficulty of returning the workplace would curtail employed women's willingness to give birth or postpone the plan to become a parent, Ho continued.

Targeting employed women who are married and mothers, the survey was carried out through online questionnaires between April 21 and May 6, with a collection of 1,259 effective samples.