'Let fathers spend more time at home'

Fathers need to spend more time at home with their children and mothers should spend more time at work, a report says today.

The report by the Fawcett Society, which campaigns for sex equality, the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), and support group Fathers Direct, calls for a "cultural revolution" in attitudes to work and the family.

"The price of unequal opportunity at home and at work is that women do most of the childcare and low-paid jobs, while men are pushed into a longhours culture that impoverishes their time with their children," it said.

The report found women working full-time are still paid 18.5 per cent less per hour than men, while British fathers work the longest hours in the EU, with men who are the sole breadwinners working even longer than those whose partners work.

Julie Mellor, chair of the EOC, said: "The price parents pay for having children is simply too high. Women who take on the responsibility of looking after the children find that the flexible, part-time jobs which allow them to balance their childcare commitments are poorly paid."

The report said the work of health, education, legal and social services had to be examined to provide more support to parents.