Most new mums would stay at home to bring up child if they could afford to

London - A traditional family – with a breadwinning father and a full-time mother – remains the ideal for a vast majority of women, according to a survey.

The poll of 1,008 mothers found that 75 percent of new mothers would stay at home to bring up their child ‘if money was no object’.

Only 12 per cent did not want to be full-time mothers.

Of those who did return to jobs, 55 per cent said they did so because money was tight and 3 per cent said they had to go back because pregnancy had left them in serious debt.

Mothers also pointed out the extra costs their families were facing because of having a baby.

Just one in seven said they wanted to develop their career, revealed the survey commissioned by uSwitch.

The findings back up a series of opinion polls in recent years, all of which showed that a high proportion of new mothers would prefer to stay at home.

“At a time when women face the biggest squeeze on employment, new mums are being forced to return to the workplace because of financial pressures,” the Daily Mail quoted Ann Robinson of uSwitch as saying.

“The high cost of living coupled with the often crippling cost of a mortgage means that many households today need two incomes to get by,” she noted.