Hard times: Rising bills could force 1.5m mothers back to work

Around 1.5million stay-at-home mothers may be forced to go back to work to cope with soaring household bills, research suggests.

Seventy per cent said they are considering getting a part-time or full-time job because their family can no longer survive on a single income.

Younger mothers under 34 and those with children under four are the most likely to need to return to work, researchers found.

The report, from the online bank Egg, revealed that 90 per cent of working mothers would stay at home with their children if 'money were no object'.

Gas bill hikes of up to 35 per cent, food price increases as high as 50 per cent and petrol price rises are all piling on the pressure.

To make matters worse, many fathers whose wives have stayed at home to look after their children are being given below-inflation pay rises - effectively a pay cut.

The report also found the cost of childcare has become a major problem, with many families having to pay £100 a day for someone to look after their children.

As a result, one in four grandparents looks after a grandchild on a regular basis.

Patrick Muir, a director of Egg, said: 'It is all hands to the pump in many households to steer families through the waves of seemingly continuous rising living costs.'