Home'S The Word For A Modern-Day Mum

At long last the parents of children in North Central Bristol havebeen granted the building of the much-needed new secondary school toserve Bishopston, Redland and Henleaze.

For generations, children in this area have had to trek in alldirections to different parts of the city upon reaching the age of11.

Bristol City Council is to be congratulated on this occasion, forlistening to public opinion, expert consultation and considering theurgent need to push up the These days, many women return to theworkplace after having children. But according to a BristolUniversity study, attitudes to family life are changing, with moremothers wanting to stay at home, reports JOANNA QUINN IT used to bethat women had to stop working once they had children and dedicatethemselves to family life.

Men were expected to bring home the bacon, while women kept thehome fires burning.

But thanks to the women's movement of the 1960s, these prescribedroles were over-turned, and by the time the executive 1980s rolledin, women were just as likely as men to be holding down high-poweredjobs and leaving the childcare to someone e l s e.

In fact, in recent years, attitudes seemed to reverse, with womenfeeling under pressure to keep up careers, meaning many returned towork almost as soon as they could.

But a new study by sociologists at the University of Bristolsuggests that today's young women see a combination of work andfamily life as the best option.

Two-thirds of the women interviewed said their ideal familysituation would be to give up work or work part-time and rely ontheir partner to bring in the money.

And despite being better educated and enjoying wider careeropportunities than previous generations, the city's young women alsocontinue to take responsibility for most housework and childcare.

Researchers interviewed 1,100 people aged between 20 and 34 forthe report Winners and Losers, funded by the Economic and SocialResearch Council.

A quarter of the young women in the survey said the ideal familyset-up would be to have the father working and the mother not, while38 per cent said the mother should work part-time and the father full-time.

The working mothers among those interviewed spoke of thefrustration of juggling motherhood and a career and said thatmanaging to do both was a real achievement.

But even though women said the idea of a male breadwinner wasoutdated, the sociologists found the division of labour in thehousehold had not changed and women still tended to take on thechores of housework and childcare.

Professor Harriet Bradley, co-author of the report, said: "Whatwe're saying is that it is very difficult to have a career and bringup small children.

"People maybe in the past minimised that difficulty. Now they arehaving a re-think." Professor Steve Fenton, another co-author, added:"Many young women have a surprisingly traditional view of the placeof mothers in the wo rk p l a c e. " One young mother interviewed inthe survey was 28-year-old Louise, from south Bristol. She had twochildren by age 18, but until her husband left her seven years agoshe had not worked. Now she supports her family with a part -timejob.

She said: "I always think that no one can bring up your childrenand look after them the way you can - that's why I wasn't interestedin getting any work when they were small.

"But my parents work and my sister works so there wasn't anyoneclose who could look after them." Another woman in the survey wasTamira, a 23-year old living in Easton.

She said: "My child and then my new child that's going to come -that is the main thing at the moment, I'm just basically living roundthat really.

"Work is also important, obviously, because the money comes in butI can't work full-time because of my baby and then I'm having anotherb aby. " Twenty-five-year-old Katrina, from Hartcliffe, said: "Myfamily are my first priority and my studies come second and the workhas to fit in.

"My family will always come first regardless and eventually workwill take the priority of where my studies come now." Commenting onthe report, Gill Keep, head of policy at the National Family andParenting Institute, said: "It might be that an emerging generationof mothers is not buying into the idea that the ultimate fulfilmentof women is to have a child and a full-time job." The study also saysthat young Bristol male and female workers are divided between aminority of stay-at-home types with little education and a majorityof adaptable careerists who move for the right job.

Professor Steve Fenton, co-author of the report, said:"Globalisation is forcing the workforce to become more adaptable, andmany young people will respond enthusiastically to such challeng es.

"But their attitude is shaped by their social class and the levelof their education. There is a significant number of young people whohave no wish to move beyond the community where they were brought up,perhaps because of family ties."