Blog: ‘Change childcare’
Ms Odone, a mother of three, said she used to believe that “success in life is measured by the work you do”, and that she was not having a “pop” at working mothers in the report.
Her recommendations include:
• Rather than “pumping billions into an unpopular childcare system”, the government should enable families to choose
• Weekly national insurance credits for carers of children and the disabled should be extended to include more people
• Reform the tax and benefit system to stop penalising stay at home mothers
• Make it easier for businesses to employ part-time workers
Justine Roberts, co-founder of online forum Mumsnet, said women wanted to work but not so hard that it made it impossible to have a family life.
She said her group welcomed any measures that encouraged firms to employ people more flexibly or helped with the “extortionate” cost of childcare.
She added that two-thirds of mothers would ideally choose part-time work, citing a recent Mumsnet survey commissioned with the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Mandy Garner, from recruitment website Workingmums.co.uk, said what women desired most was flexible working.
“They want to start work a bit later so they can take the children to school or leave later to attend an event,” she said.
