[lancsdave]

A lot of it really does depend on the support network available combined with flexible employment.

If every parent wanted to go back to work after having children then the system wouldn't be able to provide enough childcare. Easier if there are two parents in a household, alternate shifts could be arranged but in a single parent household this is obiously not possible. There are areas of the country where good childcare is near impossible to get, and in some cases non-existent. I was lucky in some ways, I found a childminder but she finished at 5pm. I had to change my hours to suit and working in IT a job that finishes at 5pm is a rare job indeed but I had an understanding employer. We might have advanced technologically oner the last 100 years but there are still some employers who adopt victorian attitudes. The fact we are so technolgically advanced and yet few people get chance to work from says a lot.

I should also add that there workshy single parents about, but then again there are also workshy single people and married people about too.