March 25, 2011
The majority of working mothers across the UK believe their employers are lacking when it comes to promoting family friendly policies, major new research has revealed. According to a survey of 1,000 members of Government campaign group Mumsnet, an alarming number of employed mothers do not rate workplace policies when it comes to safeguarding family life. Almost 60% believed UK companies and services were not family friendly and in the eyes of those surveyed, the UK is now behind European neighbors Spain, Italy and Greece for general family friendliness. A staggering 80% of mothers said having children had made it harder to progress in their career and three out of four said they were less employable. When it came to prophesising solutions, just shy of 90% of those polled said flexible working was a priority. "Other countries seem to welcome families with open arms but in the UK parents often feel their children are seen as an annoyance," said Justine Roberts, Chief Executive of Mumsnet. "We want to see workplaces where parents don't have to deny that their kids exist. We want firms to state on the door that employees don't have to feel bad about asking to go to sports day. "Being family friendly is good for business too. Companies shouldn't spend time and money training staff only to see them walk out the door once they've had children because their workplaces don't fit with family life."