British mothers turning too busy to be with kids?

London, Dec 17 (IANS) The stay-at-home mother is fast becoming consigned to history, at least the latest census figures of Britain appear to be indicating so.

Returns showed there are 300,000 fewer than officials had previously estimated, with those who devote their lives to bring up families now reduced to a tiny minority. Fewer than one in 10 women of working age are stay-at-home mothers, Daily Mail reported.

The prevailing scenario follows a decade in which governments urged mothers to take jobs on the grounds that working is the route to fulfilment for women and that families with two incomes are much less likely to fall into poverty.

Critics, however, are concerned about the mothers who might prefer to be with their families, and the impact on increasing numbers of toddlers who spend long hours in day care.

The 2011 census results found there were 1,598,000 women who were not working as they were looking after their home and family – 298,000 fewer than estimates from the Office for National Statistics.

In the 1970s, when the term “housewife” was still popular to describe the lives of millions of mothers, the great majority of women with young families stayed at home.

Two decades ago, when higher career expectations combined with fast-rising house prices pushed increasing numbers of mothers into the labour market, 17 percent of women were estimated to be stay-at-home mothers.

That fell to 12 percent by 2002 and has now dropped below 10 percent in Britain.

IANS 2012-12-17 23:04:23