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Childcare tax breaks planned

Plans to give tax breaks worth £1,200 per child to families where both parents work have come under fire for being unfair to stay-at-home mothers.

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Think tank calls for support for working mothers

Think tank the IPPR, whose research has revealed that women are increasingly taking on the role of main earner in families across the country, has called for the government to make it easier for women to go back to work, after they have children. Associate director Dalia Ben-Galim said:

The balance between bread-winning and caring has changed; it can no longer be assumed that the dad is the primary bread-winner in a couple family. As women's employment outside the home rises, dual-earner couples are more common.

Most families need two earners simply to make ends meet, and increasingly women's earnings are a necessity. A rise in the employment rate of lone parents means that mothers in this position provide the sole income for their family.

But despite more mothers than ever before now being the primary bread-winner for their families, many mums still face significant barriers to entering and remaining in work. These include a lack of flexible work opportunities, the high cost of childcare and parental leave entitlement focused on mothers.

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Childcare tax breaks planned

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