Here's the article and many thanks again for the input.
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We’re almost halfway through the Easter holidays round our way and, like more than a few others, I have to confess I can’t wait to retreat to the
sanctuary of the office.
Yet new research suggests that far from running for the cover of a 9-5, mothers now want to stay at home to bring up their children . More than
half of mothers who do not work (53 per cent) said it was because they wanted to be with their children - a clear rise in the past three years.
Can this be right? Would we all choose to spend our lives humming the tune to The Wheels on the Bus whilst internally debating whether nappy sacks look better in blue or apricot.
The government - indeed politicians in general - is at a loss for what to do with working women. Having spent most of its time in office trying to encourage mothers back to the workplace, Labour now appears to be contemplating a u-turn. The health secretary Patricia Hewitt this week admitted that mothers who stayed at home have been "under-valued" for too long and her own working hours: I always loved being with my children, and if I had my time again I would do more."
The Health Secretary is not alone - part-time work is the holy grail for mothers (and quite a few fathers). Flexible part-time work is the holy
grail with knobs on. But could Ms Hewitt, who had her first child when she was press secretary to the then Labour leader Neil Kinnock, have got away with a 20-hour week?
Would Neil really not have turned a hair when his press secretary suggested she clock off at lunchtime to catch the egg and spoon race? The truth is that most high-flying jobs require 120 per cent from the people who do them, not
50 per cent. Which is why, according to lots of mums on Mumsnet, the website for parents, they gave it all up. Of course they wanted to spend some time with their children and when the choice is a either a 70-hour work week or being sidelined – they chose to spend even more time
with their children than they originally bargained for.
Those in less well-paid careers, meanwhile, are skewered by the exorbitant cost of childcare. However much you love your job, the daily commute is hardly worth it if by the time you’ve paid the childminder you’re barely in profit.
What mothers most want, judging from the postings
on our website are flexible and part-time solutions in the work place and more affordable. Making child tax deductible, or allowing partners to transfer their tax allowances to one
another, as the Conservatives are said to be considering would be the obvious places to start.
The need for parents to move in an out of the workplace at different times and on different levels is more widely accepted. Both political parties are signd up to the principle of encouraging a "work-life balance" But the tax system still does a pretty lousy job at
recognizing the strains on working families - and we all bear the strain for that.
Justine Roberts is co-founder of www.mumsnet.com
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