Millions of mums are being forced back to work
| Published: 8th December 2007 07:38 |
Driven by debt - most mums are now forced to work to make ends meet.
Going back to work after having a baby used to be a choice for most women. However, with household costs at a premium and the mountain of personal debt increasing, more families than ever are dependent on two salaries to make ends meet. Going back to work is now a necessity for many mums.
Research by financial services company Scottish Widows reveals that the cost of running a home in the UK means almost half (44%) of the nation's average households require more than one breadwinner to maintain an acceptable standard of living. When children are born into these households, the need for two incomes increases, with one in two households with dependent children relying on both partners working.
Scottish Widows' interim protection market director, Richard Jones, says, "This reliance on two incomes to buy and run the family home means millions of households are effectively doubling the risk of financial hardship should one of breadwinners become unable to work."
The need for both partners in a household to work may be influenced by the rise in consumer credit. The report shows 47 per cent of Britons have a mortgage, 60 per cent have secured or unsecured loans, overdrafts or finance agreements and a similar number, 63%, have credit card or store card debt.
Those with children have, as would be expected, higher levels of debt on both loans and credit cards than those without children to support. Households with no children have an average mortgage loan of £66,000 compared with £83,800 for a household with two dependent children. Combined with borrowing, the average household with two dependent children is £100,600 in debt: £19,100 more than the average household with no children.
"Our report reveals that the mixture of relatively low interest rates and high job security means borrowing has been an attractive option in recent years," Jones says.
"The problem is that servicing this debt eats into our take-home pay and exposes us to financial hardship should we be unable to work."
The report also shows that many households are without savings tucked away for a rainy day. Over one in four (27%) average homeowners have no savings at all and a further 25% have £3,000 or less. As with debt, families are in an even worse position: 32% of families with three dependent children have no savings and 23% have £3,000 or less.
With higher mortgages and higher debts burdening parents with young children, it is unsurprising that millions of mums are pushed to go back to work. Without family to help look after the kids, these families also face the burden of paying for childcare and the costs of raising their children on top of their often-crippling financial commitments. It's never been cheap to raise a family, but today's young families are finding it harder than ever.
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