Juggling your family and a job

The results show that three-quarters of women feel they are underpaid, two in three said they are overworked and 93 per cent admitted to feeling under stress trying to juggle the demands of their job with their homelife. Carolyne Coyle spoke to three women in Bradford to see how they coped running a family and holding down a job.

BOBBYE ROBINSON doesn't see herself as a superwoman figure. She works 60 hours a week as branch manager for a busy recruitment business in Bradford and makes sure the household runs smoothly for her nine-year-old twin boys John and Jason, 18-year-old daughter Jahn-Marie and husband John.

"I'm no supermum, I just do what any woman would do in my situation - I organise my time and prioritise and do my best to make sure everyone is happy along the way," says the 46-year-old.

Results of a national women and work survey out today show that the average woman is disillusioned with work and seven out of ten respondents said they would quit their jobs tomorrow.

Most interviewees - 93 per cent - said they felt stressed trying to manage home and work and nearly half said they would choose to become a woman of leisure with just one in five wanting to be a career woman.

Mrs Robinson, who runs Recruitment Solutions in Otley Road, Shipley, Bradford, doesn't agree.

She says she has to be extremely organised to make sure her work and home life run smoothly but she doesn't feel stressed juggling the two.

And she says she owes a lot of the credit to her childminder who drops off and picks up her twin boys at school, gives them their dinner, does the washing and the ironing and tidies the house.

"She makes our lives a lot easier and she's great with the kids," she says.

"I don't have to worry about if the boys are OK because I know she's there to look after them.

"I don't get stressed about trying to juggle everything because I'm organised and do what I can do.

"I wouldn't want to give up my job, I love my job and my kids are proud of me, and even though they do ask me to be a stay-at-home mum I know I wouldn't be happy doing that and neither would they."

Mrs Robinson says she earns about £25,000 a year and doesn't feel overworked or underpaid but does worry about her job and how it affects her health.

"I get knots in my neck and in my back and sometimes I can't sleep at night, but I've been a housewife and that's the hardest job of all," she said.

Results of the survey show that 58 per cent of women shouted at their children because of the stress of work.

Mrs Robinson agrees and says at times it can be difficult.

"My job is very stressful and sometimes I do take my stress home with me, that can't be helped when you work full time, and sometimes I do find myself shouting at the kids.

"Obviously I try not to but there are times when you can't help it."

According to the survey, more than three-quarters of women thought children of full-time working parents suffer emotionally.

Mrs Robinson says the key to a happy life is organising your time and making sure you spend quality time with your children.

In her professional role she sees lots of mothers coming in to the office looking for work but the lack of suitable child care provision in this country makes it difficult for women to find the right job.

"We see some excellent candidates but they feel they can't take a full time job as they can't find the adequate child care, so they take part-time employment," she says.

"I come from New Orleans in the United States and over there we have excellent child care provision.

"Here women aren't given any help in juggling the two. Some childminders aren't at all flexible and if you don't pick your kids up by 6pm they charge you double and you worry your kids will be thrown out on the street.

"Women do want to work, they want their independence but many employers in this country aren't flexible for mothers which means they can spend time at work worrying about their kids.

"If mums are happy and confident that their kids are safe then they will work much better."

According to the survey, a staggering 56 per cent of companies make no allowances for working women with children and just six per cent of the women interviewed said their employers offered a company creche.

"And for single mothers it's even harder for them to juggle home and work if they have no-one else to fall back on for support," adds Mrs Robinson.

The top three most inspiring women in Britain, according to respondents of the survey, are Cherie Blair, Carol Vorderman and Judy Finnigan.

Mrs Robinson says she most identifies with Judy Finnigan, co-presenter of This Morning.

"She's a good role model for working mums, she works long hours, has three children and she always comes across as a happy person," she says.

Margaret Jay, the minister for women says more women with and without children are working today than in the past.

In 1973, 27 per cent of mothers with a child under five worked, compared with 55 per cent in 1998.

At the launch of a book called Women and Men in the UK: the Facts and Figures 2,000, she says: "Women are not yet equal in the labour market - women continue to be concentrated in certain sectors of the workforce which tend to be less well paid.

"The figures underline how vital women are to the UK economy but it also shows how crucial women are to successful family life.

"Mothers still provide the majority of childcare and women are responsible for most domestic household tasks."

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