Brussels has ordered Britain to do more to get stay-at-home mothers back to work - despite the number hitting a record low.

In the last two decades, the number of women who choosing not work to look in order to raise their family at home has dropped by a third to just over two million.

However, British women are still twice as likely as those in the rest of Europe to be stay-at-home mothers according to the European Union – which has demanded more government action to tackle the 'social challenge'.

In 2013, the percentage of women who did not work or worked part-time 'due to personal and family responsibilities' was 12.5 per cent, almost twice as high as the EU average of 6.3 per cent

In 2013, the percentage of women who did not work or worked part-time 'due to personal and family responsibilities' was 12.5 per cent, almost twice as high as the EU average of 6.3 per cent

A report compiled by the European Council calls on the government to do more to get stay-at-home mothers into work by providing additional free childcare.

But campaigners and MPs have hit out at the report and said that a Brussels institution had 'no right' to 'lecture' mothers in the UK.

The report, which is part of an annual assessment of every European economy, was presented to Chancellor George Osborne at a meeting of finance ministers on Friday.

It criticised the fact that women were far more likely to be in part-time work than men and added: 'Despite the positive trends in relation to labour market outcomes, social challenges persist.'

Laura Perrins of the campaign group Mothers At Home Matter, said: 'How British families organise their care is up to them.

'They shouldn't be lectured to by the British government, or bean-counters in Europe. This is just another bullying tactic to get mothers to leave their young children.'

New official figures show that there are only 2.024million women out of work to look after a home or family, a 31 per cent fall on 2.913million in spring 1993

he number of stay at home fathers and househusbands as more than doubled from 111,000 in 1993 to 235,000 in February to April this year

Peter Bone, Conservative MP for Wellingborough, added: 'They have no right whatsoever to tell women and families to go to work. It is not within spitting distance of what they should be doing.'

In 2013, 42.6 per cent of British women were in part-time work compared with 13.2 per cent of men, one of the highest differences in the EU.

The percentage of women who did not work or worked part-time 'due to personal and family responsibilities' was 12.5 per cent, almost twice as high as the EU average of 6.3 per cent.

New official figures show that there are only 2.024million women out of work to look after a home or family, a 31 per cent fall on 2.913million in spring 1993

However, the number of stay at home mothers and grandmothers has fallen steadily since records began in 1993.

The number of stay at home fathers and househusbands as more than doubled from 111,000 in 1993 to 235,000 in February to April this year

Official figures released last week showed there are now only 2.024million women out of work to look after a home or family, a 31 per cent fall on 2.913million in spring 1993.

The figure has fallen by 13,000 in the last year alone - meaning 250 women are giving up life at home every week.

In stark contrast, the number of stay at home fathers and househusbands as more than doubled from 111,000 in 1993 to 235,000 in February to April this year, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The sharp turnaround comes after 20 years of social and economic change, with parents increasingly sharing the burden of raising a family and many women reluctant to give up their career once they have children.