Half of UK Mothers with Children under the Age of 5 are Employed

Women with dependent children are less likely than those without to be employed. Based on UK statistics, fifty-six percent of mothers with children under the age of 5 are working. The number jumps to 77 per cent when the youngest child is aged 11 to 15. Conversely, men with dependent children are more likely than those without to be working while the child’s age has no impact on their employment status.
The following fact shows that the opportunity to work flexibly can improve people’s ability to balance home and work responsibilities. A third of mothers used some form of flexible working pattern compared with a fifth of fathers.
Among all types of flexible working arrangements, flexible working hours was the most common type to be used by all parent employees (12 per cent). Of parents with dependent children, mothers were slightly more likely to use this working arrangement than fathers; one in seven mothers worked flexible working hours compared with one in ten fathers. Term time working arrangements, however, showed the largest difference between mothers and fathers – 12 per cent of mothers used this type of flexible working arrangement compared with 2 per cent of fathers.
Extracted from: Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics. Spring 2005.