Why stay at home mums are more under attack than ever

May 24, 2018 by

by Cristina Odone, Mailonline:

Claire Paye regularly receives the alumni newsletter from her alma mater, Jesus College, Oxford, which often features the extraordinary accomplishments of her peers, who have received honours and awards or published seminal papers.

In one issue, Claire, 46, contributed her own piece about work, entitled: Making the most of an Oxford degree.

But it wasn’t her career as a highly paid head of world trade at the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry on which she wanted to focus — she gave that up years ago. It was her current role as a hands-on mother-of-two.

‘Am I, in some ways, wasting my degree by being at home full-time? I hope not,’ wrote Claire, mother to Amelia, 12, and Charlie, nine.

‘Instinctively, I feel that I should be in some high-powered job, earning lots of money. But that wouldn’t necessarily be the best use of my degree.

‘It could be said that bringing up children is one of the most important roles in the world.’

Yet, in our careerist times, Claire, who’s been a stay-at-home mother for 12 years, finds herself firmly in the minority for believing this.

One of a dying breed, even. For, according to a recent report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, now only one in five middle-class mothers chooses to leave work.

Forty years ago, almost half of couples bringing up children were divided into a breadwinner and a full-time parent, invariably the mother. But the share of couples raising their family in this way has now dropped to 27 per cent — and it is even lower among middle-class families who have the financial freedom to choose whether or not a parent will work.

While for many, this decision is rooted in economic necessity, the figures also reflect a huge societal shift which embraces working motherhood — and leaves full-time mums out in the cold.

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