"What Does Your Husband Do?" And Other Interview Questions That Need to Retire
Over the course of my career, I've been asked this in interviews more times than I can count, always with a completely straight face: "So, what does your husband do?"
The first time, I put it down to one awkward interviewer. By the fifth or sixth time, I realised it was a pattern. And every single time, I sat there trying to work out what the relevant answer could possibly be. Was my suitability for the role somehow tied to his job title? Would the offer change depending on whether he was a plumber or a partner at a law firm?
I've asked around since, and I'm far from alone. Talk to any group of professional women and the stories come pouring out. Questions about husbands, children, childcare, wedding plans, "how you'll juggle it all". Questions that have nothing to do with whether someone can actually do the job.
So let's talk about bad interview questions. What counts as one, why they still happen in 2026, and what good employers ask instead.
The questions that should never be asked
Under the Equality Act 2010, it's unlawful to discriminate against candidates based on protected characteristics, including sex, age, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, disability, race, religion and sexual orientation. Asking about these things in an interview isn't automatically illegal in itself, but if an unsuccessful candidate can show the answer influenced the decision, the employer is in serious trouble at tribunal.
Here are the classics that still crop up far too often:
"What does your husband or partner do?" Irrelevant, intrusive, and usually a clumsy attempt to gauge whether you're the "main earner", whether you might relocate, or whether you "need" the job. None of which is the interviewer's business.
"Are you planning to have children?" or "How will you manage childcare?" This is the big one, and it's asked of women vastly more often than men. It signals, loudly, that the employer sees family life as a liability.
"How old are you?" or its sneakier cousins: "When did you graduate?", "You've got a lot of energy for this role, haven't you?" Age discrimination cuts both ways, catching younger and older candidates alike.
"Where are you really from?" A question about someone's accent, name or heritage has no bearing on their ability to do the job.
"Do you have any health problems?" Employers generally can't ask about health or disability before making a job offer, with narrow exceptions such as checking whether reasonable adjustments are needed for the interview itself.
"Are you married?" or "What does your social life look like?" Fishing expeditions dressed up as small talk.
Why do these questions still happen?
In my experience, it's rarely malice. It's usually one of three things:
Nobody trained the interviewer. In many SMEs, the person running interviews is a business owner or line manager who has never been shown how to interview. They're winging it, filling silences with chit-chat, and wandering into dangerous territory without realising.
There's no structure. When there's no scorecard, no agreed set of questions and no criteria to assess against, interviews become conversations. And conversations drift towards the personal.
Bias dressed up as "culture fit". Sometimes the question is doing exactly what it appears to be doing: screening out mothers, older candidates, or anyone who doesn't fit a picture the interviewer already has in their head. That's the version that ends up in tribunal claims.
Whatever the cause, the cost is the same. Great candidates walk away, tell their networks, and quietly cross you off their list. In a market where legal and insurance firms are fighting hard for talent, one careless question can undo months of employer brand work.
What it costs you as an employer
Beyond the legal risk (and discrimination compensation is uncapped in the UK, so it's a real risk), bad interview questions do quieter damage:
- Candidates talk. Glassdoor reviews, WhatsApp groups, LinkedIn posts. Your interview experience is public whether you like it or not.
- You lose the best people first. Strong candidates have options. They don't need to tolerate being asked about their husband's salary.
- You make worse hiring decisions. Every minute spent on someone's family plans is a minute not spent finding out whether they can actually do the role.
What to ask instead
The fix isn't a list of banned questions pinned to the wall. It's structure. Every strong interview process I build with clients rests on the same foundations:
Start with the role, not the person. Define what success looks like in the first 6 to 12 months, then build questions that test for exactly that.
Ask the same core questions of every candidate. Consistency is your best defence against bias and your best tool for fair comparison.
Use evidence-based questions. "Tell me about a time you managed a difficult renewal negotiation" tells you infinitely more than anything about someone's home life.
If availability genuinely matters, ask about availability. "This role requires occasional evening client events. Is that workable for you?" is a fair question to ask everyone. "How will you sort childcare?" is not.
Score against criteria, not gut feel. A simple scorecard turns "I just liked her" into a decision you can explain and defend.
The bottom line
If a question wouldn't help you decide whether someone can do the job, don't ask it. It really is that simple. And if you're a candidate who gets asked what your husband does, know that the question says everything about the employer and nothing about you.
At BuildIn Talent, I help businesses across London and the South East build hiring processes that are structured, fair and genuinely effective. Interview frameworks, scorecards, trained interviewers, the lot. If your interviews are still running on gut feel and good intentions, let's fix that before it costs you your next great hire.
Get in touch to talk about building an interview process your candidates will actually rave about.
FAQ
- Is it illegal to ask about marital status in a UK interview? Asking isn't automatically unlawful, but marital status is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, so if the answer influences a hiring decision the employer risks a discrimination claim.
- Can an employer ask if I'm planning to have children? They shouldn't. Pregnancy and maternity are protected characteristics, and questions about family plans are strong evidence of discrimination if you're rejected.
- Can employers ask about health conditions before a job offer? Generally no, under section 60 of the Equality Act 2010, except in limited circumstances such as arranging interview adjustments or checking ability to perform an intrinsic function of the role.
- What should I do if I'm asked an inappropriate interview question? You can politely redirect ("I'm not sure how that relates to the role, but happy to talk about my experience with..."), decline to answer, or raise it afterwards with the company or ACAS if you believe it affected the outcome.