Two new reports into the lot of working women have concluded what any working mother knows to her cost - that responsibility for housework rests mainly with them.

The first study by the Economic and Social Research council found that life is getting harder for working women. Their report, published today, concludes that responsiblity for housework and taking off time when a child is sick falls mainly to mothers, even when they're the highest earners in the household.

Six out of 10 women earning more than their partners are still the parent who takes time off when their child is sick. This level of parental responsibility coupled with the fact that British women work the longest hours in Europe, unsurprisingly makes being a working mother in this country extremely hard work.

The report concluded that working mothers in this country are 'physically and emotionally drained' - a fact that affects more women than ever in this country. In 1981 the ESRC figures show that only 25% of women returned to work within a year of childbirth. By 2001 that figure had rocketed to 67%.

The second report on this subject comes from Labour think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research. This month it released a study based on its annual British Social Attitudes research. It found that 'The proportion of the public believing that a woman's primary role is to stay at home has halved during the past fifteen years from about one third to one sixth. At the same time, there is still a widely-held belief that women are responsible for most domestic duties and child care. 48% of the British public think mothers should stay at home when children are under school age.

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