Should mothers work or stay at home? by Polly Toynbee

Polly Toynbee describes another govt initiative ...the Tax Free Childcare...where the 'market' will make profits

Should mothers work or stay at home? Don't ask George Osborne | Polly Toynbee | Comment is free | The Guardian

Mothers will do whatever is right for their family even if it means making sacrifices. They don't need society to tell them how to do anything.

I am not swayed one way or another on this topic although, I do feel very lucky that when we have our own children, I will be able to stay at home and watch them grow!

I have strong memories of growing up and due to family circumstances, my mum (single parent) didn't work - as much as I loved having mum around ALL the time, I did often wonder what it would be like to have a mum go to work!!!

At the end of the day, it is all personal preference and unfortunately money plays a huge part in a mother's decision!

Ha, I knew before opening this post who posted it just from the title.

hmm i didn 't read all of it because i've got children arriving in a minute,

but I think mums who work should get help for childcare because it is expensive and why should people who work hard get less help than those who don't work.
HOWEVER, I also think it is strange that the govt will give money to mums to get someone else to look after their child but won't give the mum the same amount of money to stay at home and look after their own child?

Its all about the mums doing what is best for their child and if we are stuck in a world where we rely so heavily on the mums wage as an equal contribution to the home then its only natural really that parents aren't going to be able to afford to go back down to one wage. I remember feeling quite resentful that after years and years of working and paying my taxes I didn't get more help when I was on maternity leave. The amount you get weekly is not affordable compared to a proper f/t wage - and I wasn't on much more than minimum wage so not exactly rolling in it!
No choice for me - I had to go back to work once the maternity pay ran out even though I had the right to stay off longer. Although I was lucky enough to be able to choose flexible roles that fit in with my OH - some people don't have that choice - esp if the woman is the major bread winner.

Why is this new benefit only for people earning over £45,000? In my book that's a lot of money - it should be people earning less than that who get the help!