Mums in the UK would like to stay at home and look after their children but financial pressures are forcing them back to 
work, according to a new study.
According to research, 75 per cent of new mothers would remain at home if money was no object.
Almost 60 per cent told the study they are forced back to work because of debt and financial worries.
Such is the financial impact of going on maternity leave that more than one in ten mums (11pc) are forced to cut their maternity leave short and return to work early, with nine percent forced to re-think their plans about not going back at all.
However, with more than four in ten (41pc) going back to work part-time, and a quarter (24pc) taking a pay cut because of part-time hours, new mums are still feeling the pinch.
With money worries the overwhelming driver for those heading back to the office, just 14pc of mums said their main reason for returning to work was to resume their career.
The results come in the months after a Government minister said the demise of the stay-at-home mum was one “very obvious” trend from the current jobs market.
The survey of 1,008 mothers found more than one in ten is forced to cut short their maternity leave because of the financial impact they felt.
Just 12 per cent said they did not want to be full-time mothers. A further 13 per cent said they did not know.
Ann Robinson, from the group behind the research – uSwitch – said: “The high cost of living coupled with the often crippling cost of a mortgage means that many households today need two incomes to get by.
“Unfortunately many new mothers are paying the price for this by seeing their choices taken away by the financial realities of modern life.”
In April this year Chris Grayling, the then employment minister, said stay-at-home mums are being forced to go back to work as families struggle to pay the bills.
Mr Grayling commented: “I think we are seeing more stay-at-home mums saying, ‘I think I’ll look for a part-time job’.”
When asked if they were returning to work for financial reasons, he replied: “I suspect so.”
Siobhan Freegard, founder of the parenting website NetMums, said that Mr Grayling’s comments were “100 per cent right”.
She added at the time: “The vast majority who are going back to work, or who are working already, are doing it because they have to, not because they want to.”
