Mums must pay

For some it is a question of dividing their valuable time to ensure their children are not losing out and choosing between part and full-time work.

But for many women the problem is even more fundamental than that. They quite simply cannot afford the childcare which would allow them to go out to work.

Unless you are earning huge amounts of money -- and that rules out a large proportion of the female working population -- money has to come into the equation.

Women are increasingly choosing part-time employment to ensure they spend as much time with their offspring as possible but also ensuring they can work.

But many part-time jobs are too poorly paid to allow women the luxury of dividing their time so equally.

Marie Temperley, aged 29, and her 30-year-old sister Karen Temperley are two such women who had hoped that after starting their families they would be able to work part-time.

Now they realise that dream, as simple as it may seem, may never become a reality.

It is as basic as this. Marie, who lives in Halliwell, does not earn enough money to pay for the childcare she would need for nine-month-old Joel.

She says: "I would be working to earn just £7 a week. It isn't worth me going out to work."

The Government is continually trying to encourage mums to go out to work, says Marie, but the incentives to do that are not there.

There is the Working Families' Tax Credit, but that does not allow for couples like Marie and partner Glen Wilcock, aged 29.

Glen works as an engineer but does not earn a huge amount of money. Still, it is enough to ensure the couple cannot benefit from the allowance which would help to pay for childcare.

Karen and her 31-year-old partner Brian Sherry, who live in Horwich, are in a similar position. Any allowance they would get from the tax credit would not be enough to make working part-time an option for Karen.

Both Karen, who has a four-month-old daughter, Georgene, and Marie want to work. But they also want to spend time with their children.

Karen says: "We don't want to work full-time, because we wouldn't have enough time with the children. We would miss precious moments. But we want to work part-time, to earn some extra money and for our own independence."

They both work for the former GUS mail order company, now called Reality, in Bolton and have good jobs they enjoy.

Marie had been working part-time before she had her baby so she has a part-time job to go back to. Karen is hoping to be offered part-time work.

But neither job will be feasible for the women if they cannot find inexpensive childcare.

They would like to see the Government do more to help companies improve things for their women employees. Marie says: "The Government should offer companies incentives to set up creches to help their employees."

If companies had subsidised creche facilities, women like Marie and Karen would be able to return to work because the problem of affording childcare would be eliminated, they believe.

Marie, a bureau clerk, says: "Nurseries and childminders cost a lot of money, and some are not flexible enough to cover for different working hours."

Many women have family they can turn to for help, often their parents, but Marie and Karen's mother died when they were both young.

Karen, a statistics' clerk, says: "We don't have anyone who can help us. Our dad, George, brought four of us up on his own, so he has done his bit."

They know they are not alone and realise that many women will empathise with them and their dilemma.

Marie says: "I enjoy working and I enjoy the company of my friends at work. But I am starting to wonder if it will ever be worth going back."

Karen is equally concerned about her job. "I love my job and I've worked hard to get to the position I am in now."

But both Karen and Marie, and millions of women like them, believe their children's welfare has to be their top priority.

However, as they have started to realise, not everyone puts family first.

Marie says: "The Government says it is putting the family first but it doesn't look that way to us."

Click HERE for other reports on the issue of working mothers and childcare.

Have you had this problem or any other childcare problem? Write with your experiences of childcare to: The Editor, Bolton Evening News, Churchgate, Bolton. BL1 1DE or email bennewsdesk@boltoneveningnews.co.uk