Mothers wooed back to work
By CNN's Liz George
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Drawing mothers back to work with better policies is proving fruitful.
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- More companies are finding that wooing mothers back to work with flexi-time, childcare and other incentives is good for business.
Fifty years ago most women did not work. These days many do, yet mothers still find it hard to find a balance.
Aging populations and declining birth rates in the UK, mainland Europe and Japan are also leading many in industry to rethink the role of mothers.
"Governments and society need to start taking a look at how they provide childcare and how they ensure that women have a chance to have fulfilling careers and look after children," Alexandra Jones of the Work Foundation told CNN.
Some companies are not able to offer flexible hours or part-time employment. Instead they are offering mothers incentives to return to full time work.
Sarah Churchman of PricewaterhouseCoopers said they saw benefits after giving working mothers an extra 20 percent of their base pay in the form of childcare vouchers. "The return rate from maternity leave has improved from 40 percent to approximately 80 to 85 percent."
A survey of more than 1,000 women in the U.S. by Harris Interactive also found that working mothers have the hardest time achieving a balance in life.
Only 11 percent said they accomplished everything they needed to do, including a career, looking after family and housekeeping.
"It is about trying to cope with the work I've got, get the balance right between home life and work life -- trying to do a good job always with one eye on personal development," says mother Michelle Lewis, who works in public affairs for ASDA supermarket in the UK.
Yet corporations are waking up to the idea that if they respond to the needs of young or new mothers during difficult times then the corporate loyalty could be enormous.
"(If you aren't flexible) then actually you will lose people and you will have breaks in careers which loses that talent," said David Smith of ASDA.
Meanwhile, the Web site workingmother.com has ranked the top 100 companies in the U.S. for working mothers. It also highlights some of the benefits offered to mothers in the office, including at-work massages, take-home dinners and after-school programs for children.
