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i am a stay at home mum now but for the first two years of my son's life I worked as I got a promotion when my son was tiny. I gave up last year and I have never been as happy, I am busy ,I have a brill circle of friends, but most importantly I have a happy child whose mum is always there. I totally agree with Alex too.
Comment by Tracy on December 12 16:45

I work 4 nights a week.
The company i work for are very good if you need time off if your child is ill or sick.
My son does not go with out he has got his parents their for him 24/7 if he needs us.
my son is asleep while i am working ,so he is with his dad and gets to spend afternoons,evenings and weekends with his mum or dad.
My son is austic and is in a mainstream school .
and if he is happy and not going without and i am happy, while i am working i know he is safe.
We his parents r there for him.
And we r happy working.
Comment by sharon hussey on December 12 14:15

I have to say, having been a full-time stay-at-home mum for 3 years and now being back at work, that I am not at all surprised by these results. Going out to work is a piece of cake compared to looking after small children day in day out! I am fortunate enough to be able to work part-time and spend the rest of the week with my children, which feels like a reasonable balance.

I do agree with Alex Atkin's comment that children need their parents to be there ... provided that they can be there and still be happy! I believe it's actually more damaging for children to be spend all their time with miserable parents than to spend less time with happier parents. That's certainly borne out by my own experience, both as a child and with my own children.

In an ideal world there would be greater support and recognition for stay-at-home parents, less financial pressure forcing parents out to work when they don't want to go, greater equality between women and men with regards to childcare responsibilities, etc, etc. Things are definitely improving but we've still got a long way to go.
Comment by Jo Rheam on December 12 12:14

The problem here is that while working mums might be happier, their offspring are not. Also it doesn't take into account that stay at home mums are being bullied into working by the government. So that by itself adds additional stress. If it was more socially acceptable to NOT work and people could afford to stay at home, these results would be different.

Its all very worrying. I have seen many children in the local area grow up to be abusive, disrespectful and anti-social because their parents were "too busy" and left them to their own devices.

Kids need their parents to BE THERE, to set limits for them to rebel against, or else they grow up thinking they can do whatever they want.
Comment by Alex Atkin on December 12 11:29