Record numbers of fathers staying home to look after children

For the first time, 200,000 men have become 'domestic dads', rather than going out to work every day.

The figures, published by the Office for National Statistics, highlight an extraordinary change in traditional British family life.

The number of men who are full-time fathers, rather than climbing the career ladder, has increased by 83 per cent from 109,000 since official records began in 1993.

Over the same period, the number of fulltime mothers has dropped by nearly a quarter from 2.7million to 2.1million.

There are now 13.3million working women, a total which is rapidly catching up with the number of working men. More than half of working women, including millions with young families, have full-time jobs.

Thousands of couples are deciding that the man should stay at home after the birth of their first child, often because the woman earns a bigger salary. One of the best-known examples is the City fund manager Helena Morrissey, 41, who gave birth to her eighth child, Cecily, last week.

She is chief executive of the fund management group Newton and her husband, Richard, looks after their large brood. The eldest, Fitz, is 15 and the others are Florence, Tuppy, Millie, Clara, Octavia and Theo.

Mrs Morrissey, who lives in West London, has now taken eight maternity leaves during her highflying career.

"Although my maternity leaves are short, they are intense," she has said. "Then it's a gradual handover to my husband - and we have a nanny - when I go back to work."

She was 24 when she met her future husband, a Zen Buddhist monk who used to work in financial publishing.

A survey has found that nearly 40 per cent of women who are married or living with a boyfriend and work full-time are paid more money than their partner.

Many others are making a fortune from their own business. The research, from Investec Private Bank, found many of them are putting themselves under 'great pressure'.

New rules, being planned by the Government, are aimed at encouraging even more fathers to spend more time with their young families.

They would be allowed a half share of their partner's year-long maternity leave.

The ONS's monthly Labour Market Statistics showed that unemployment has jumped to 1.7million, an increase of 101,000 over the last year.

Tory work and pensions spokesman Philip Hammond said: "The figures will be a major setback to Gordon Brown as he launches his bid to become Prime Minister."

The total includes nearly 520,000 young people aged 18 to 24, which the British Chambers of Commerce described as 'a national disgrace'.

Despite the rise in unemployment, the number claiming Jobseeker's Allowance was 890,000 in April - a drop of 15,700 compared with the previous month.

The average annual pay rise for workers not paid a bonus was 3.7 per cent in March, below the 3.9 per cent figure in the same month last year.