MOTHERS FEATURE: For the first time statistics show that more mothers are working in Britain than those who stay at home and look after the children. Alex Emery investigates three mums with different views on the subject.

To work or not to work? That is the question facing most mothers in today's society.

Over the last few years the term housewife has become less and less common.

When it is used, the expression almost seems to conjure an image of a lazy woman with nothing better to do than sit around the home.

It is archaic and most women feel affronted when they are described as such. After all, the notion of being married to the house is not a pleasant one.

Euphemisms such as house-technician or homemaker aren't much better.

The terms are dying out because the women they describe have made them redundant.

The housewife has become thin on the ground in 21st century England.

As most mothers will agree, looking after children is a full-time job in itself. The only differences seem to be is that it is unpaid and often undervalued.

Whether women decide to return to work to pursue their careers, because they need the money or just because they enjoy the social aspect, one thing is clear. More mothers are working than ever before.

Most women with children under five have full or part-time jobs, according to research published by the Office for National Statistics.

The number of mothers who go out to earn a crust has increased by 20 per cent in the last two decades.

In 1980 only 31 per cent were working, according to a government study.

But today the figure is 55 per cent, and those with older children are even more likely to have a job.

Nearly three-quarters of mothers with children aged five to 10 have found employment, while those whose dependents are 11 to 15 are more likely to be working than childless women.

A report from the Institute for Social and Economic Research last year found that children of mothers who had gone back to work before they started school developed more slowly emotionally, and performed less well in reading and maths tests, than children of mothers who had stayed at home.