Modern day working mothers find time is not on their side

LONDON: For many of us, the rigours of a busy lifestyle means having to make sacrifices.

But for a large proportion of mothers, the pressures of parenting – as well as holding down a career – means many traditional tasks have fallen by the wayside.

According to research, 23% of women said they have no time to cook an evening meal from scratch, while one in five are unable to find time to make a child’s birthday cake.

The survey, which polled 1 000 mothers, found that around one in six felt they were unable to take a role in their child’s parent teacher association and a third said chores, such as ironing bed linen, was too much for them.

Although many were more stretched than their own mothers, the vast majority made sure that they never missed important events in their children’s lives – with 75% of respondents saying they had always attended a school play, parents’ evening or sports day.

More than half of the women who polled for skin care firm Sanctuary Spa said their mothers had more time because they didn’t have to work.

When asked how times had changed for modern mothers, 50% said their lifestyles would have been different in the 1970s and 1980s.

The study also found that nearly one in five mothers felt inadequate when they saw that social media friends were seemingly able to juggle motherhood with a career while they felt they didn’t have enough time to spare.

A quarter of mothers admitted that they had gone without applying make-up and styling their hair before leaving the house in the morning.

Even relaxation times had been hit – 19% said they no longer had time to read a book in the evening and more than one in 10 mothers felt like they didn’t have the time to spend a night at home by themselves.

Jacqueline Burchell, global marketing director at Sanctuary Spa, said: “Our ongoing mission is to help women find their own sanctuary in a world of constant pressure to be reallife superwomen.

“Those never-ending ‘to-do’ lists often lead women to skip breakfast or not wash their hair in order to reclaim a little more time in their daily lives.

“Two-thirds of the 1 000 mothers questioned said they dedicated just 14 minutes to getting themselves ready in the mornings.”

Meanwhile, a survey of 1 000 adults by charity Grandparents Plus revealed that one in four mothers would have to give up work if they didn’t have grandparents to look after their children. – Daily Mail