A friend of mine set up her own company, determined not only to employ women, but to create a family-friendly environment for them so they would stay working when they had children. She failed, but not through want of trying. Her marketing company now employs more than 30 people, but an ever smaller proportion are women with families – for the simple reason that, as she says, "most women want to have children and when they do, their values almost invariably change. They are just not as committed to their jobs as before. A small company simply cannot stay in business if it is staffed by people who aren't very committed to what they do."