[Tichy]

"she's assumed to get pregnant and go on maternity leave"

Would you say that assumptions is completely unfounded? What percentage of women don't have kids?

[mgkimsal]

You'd need to narrow it down some - what percentage of women in "industry X" don't have kids. I don't know if the numbers would be significantly different, but they might for some industries.

[Tichy]

In some industries you might not have a significant enough number of women to create a significant statistic.

[jack-r-abbit]

I don't think people are necessarily saying that this assumption is or is not unfounded. But it should not be grounds for not hiring someone.

[Tichy]

But what is the solution? Why should companies be responsible to pay for that risk? I think if society doesn't want women to be disadvantaged because of the "risk" of becoming family persons, then society should pay up, not companies.