A report, Caring and counting: The impact of mothers' employment on family relationships, by researchers at South Bank University, said family-friendly policies and flexible working hours were of limited help to working mothers if their work spilled over into their home lives, and that the quality of working time may have as much impact on their family relationships as the amount of time they spent at work.
The mothers, who worked in either a hospital or an accountancy firm, 'all had strong, traditional views about what being a "good mother" and a "good partner" was about,' the report said.
The report also noted that the fathers felt the mothers' jobs benefited their children because they enhanced the quality of mother-child relationships and gave them a positive role model.
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