According to statistics, in women at least, the effect is the opposite: while there is an initial observable lag, women returning from maternity leave more than

According to statistics, in women at least, the effect is the opposite: while there is an initial observable lag, women returning from maternity leave more than catch up career-wise with men and women without children, and in fact tend to surpass them. (we know this incidentally from studies that were investigating the pay gap)