Don’t sneer at millions of mothers who want to be at home to look after their children, ministers are warned
- 29 per cent of working mother’s would leave work if affordable, polling shows
- Think tank Civitas urged ministers to stop ‘sneering’ at women who want this
Ministers must stop ‘sneering’ at the millions of mothers who would rather look after their children than hold down jobs, a think-tank urged last night.
Official polling shows that almost one in three working women (29 per cent) with children under 16 would give up their jobs if they could afford it, said Civitas.
More than half (58 per cent) would prefer to do fewer hours.
Less than half (44 per cent) of stay-at-home mothers of under-16s said they would like to get a job if they could find convenient, reliable and affordable childcare.
Among mothers of pre-school children, the figures are even more stark with a third wanting to give up their jobs and nearly two-thirds wanting to do fewer hours.
Official polling shows that almost one in three working women (29 per cent) with children under 16 would give up their jobs if they could afford it, said Civitas
Based on official figures suggesting there are 7.2million women with children under 16 in the UK, Civitas estimates that 3million would prefer to be at home more.
The think-tank’s analysis warns that Government policy is wrongly focused on getting more mothers into work while the state pays to look after their children.
Last night Frank Young, of Civitas, said: ‘Forget the sneers, miserable mums make up most parents in the workplace.
‘The Government’s data shows most women want to be mothers, a lot more than they want to be in the modern workplace.
‘These mothers are the most ignored voters in Westminster, almost no one on either frontbench will speak up for them or even recognise they exist.
‘Childcare policy is the wrong way round – ‘we will pay anyone to look after your child but you’ – and it’s not what women want.’
Mr Young urged Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to listen to MPs calling for family tax rules to recognise the contribution of mothers.
Some were alarmed at moves in March’s Budget to expand the scheme currently offering 30 hours of free childcare a week to three and four-year-olds to apply when babies are nine months old.
A Treasury spokesman said: ‘The UK’s high childcare costs are widely recognised to be a barrier for many parents, particularly mothers, who want to return to work or take on more hours.
‘This intervention means those parents who want to work aren’t held back.’ He added the changes are set to lead to 75,000 more parents joining the workforce.
