75% of new mothers would stay at home to bring up their child if they could afford to

Three out of four new mothers would stay at home to bring up their child if they could afford to, a report said yesterday.



A traditional family – with a breadwinning father and a full-time mother – remains the ideal for the vast majority of women, the study found.



The conclusion flies in the face of the assumption among politicians, civil servants and academics that working is good for mothers and that what families really want is more subsidised childcare.

Quality time: Three out of four new mothers would stay at home to bring up their child if they could afford to, according to a survey commissioned by uSwitch

According to the research, six out of ten mothers who return to work after having a baby do so only to pay off debt or ease financial pressures. Just one in seven said they wanted to develop their career.



The findings, produced from a survey commissioned by uSwitch of 1,008 mothers, back up a series of opinion polls in recent years, all of which showed that a high proportion of new mothers would prefer to stay at home.

No similar government or academic analysis of the wishes of mothers has been published, however.



Ann Robinson, of uSwitch, said: ‘At a time when women face the biggest squeeze on employment, new mums are being forced to return to the workplace because of financial pressures.



Bond: Only 12 per cent of women surveyed did not want to be full-time mothers

‘The high cost of living coupled with the often crippling cost of a mortgage means that many households today need two incomes to get by.’



The poll found that 75 per cent of new mothers said they would have stayed at home ‘if money was no object’.

Only 12 per cent did not want to be full-time mothers. A further 13 per cent replied ‘don’t know’.



Of those who did return to jobs, 55 per cent said they did so because money was tight and 3 per cent said they had to go back because pregnancy had left them in serious debt.



Among those who gave other reasons, one in five said they needed something in their lives other than their home and baby and 14 per cent wanted to continue their career.



Mothers also gave estimates of the extra costs their families were facing because of having a baby.