Less Than 10% Of Irish Working Mothers Happy
1st October 2015
Less than 10% (8.9%) of Irish mothers are managing work and family life well and are happy to keep doing what they are doing. That’s according to a new survey conducted by eumom looking into the work life balance of mothers in Ireland.
eumom, the online parenting community, surveyed 2,234 Irish mothers, 85% of whom were working outside the home and 15% were stay at home mothers.
The survey also found that:
• Less than a third (32%) of respondents said their employers had flexible policies supporting working parents
• A third of mothers get very stressed trying to be both available for work and for their children
• Half of respondents said that they are made to feel guilty by colleagues and peers for the flexibility required as a working mother
• Only 14% of mothers believed that they are treated as equals to employees who are not parents
Crèche and family were the two highest forms of childcare among those surveyed and less than a quarter of all mothers (23%) said that they were entirely happy with their childcare set up. When asked what the preferred childcare scenario would be, 43% of respondents said they would like to be a stay at home mother although over a third of those at home (36%) reported that it’s not working and something has to change.
According to eumom Executive Director Annette Burns-Young, “The overwhelming theme from this piece of research is that Irish moms are looking for flexibility and change to get the work /home life that they need”.
