There are many articles about travelling with kids, giving tips on what to expect, how to manage, etc. But what about travelling without kids? I haven’t travelled without one or more kids for 20+ years, at least not outside of England, until this weekend. It felt weird. I know I’m supposed to think it was […] The post Travelling without kids appeared first on workingmums.co.uk ..read more

In the midst of an economic crisis, which is hitting the poorest the worst, the Government has chosen to focus on a benefits crackdown on the sick and disabled. Rishi Sunak outlined the plans on Friday. They had already been proposed earlier, but this time they have a ‘sicknote culture’ spin on them to be […] The post Benefits crackdown amid rising inequality appeared first on workingmums.co.uk ..read more

Are you finding it hard to pay attention to anything? What about your kids? There has been a lot of focus on the impact of social media and games etc on children’s attention spans for some years, but what about their parents? The constant demand for instant replies to everything, the frequent addition of tasks […] The post Finding it hard to focus? You’re not alone appeared first on workingmums.co.uk ..read more

With Easter now done, here we suddenly are halfway through the school year. Whilst there are lots of school events to look forward to in this last big term and the improved weather means more social plans, it’s all turning out to be the cause of a severe case of mental overload. Son#1 is on […] The post Heavy is the burden of the mental load appeared first on workingmums.co.uk ..read more

Is it my imagination or are there more roadworks these days? I ask this as, in addition to the usual working parent logistics, roadwork logistics are now featuring ever more largely in my life. At the moment there are roadworks on the high street of the town we live near. That means huge tailbacks if […] The post Roadworks logistics appeared first on workingmums.co.uk ..read more

Life is a strange thing. So much of it is about retreading things you’ve already done – emotions, events, relationships… Everything is recycled in some way. Sometimes this can be a good thing and other times not so good. On Friday, I took my partner to see Johnny Marr. It was his delayed Christmas present. […] The post A light that never goes out appeared first on workingmums.co.uk ..read more

A new study out this week finds that young adults who work shifts outside the usual 9-to-5 schedule are more likely to experience worse sleep and symptoms of depression in their 50s. The study, which analysed data from over 7,000 people in the US over three decades, reveals that volatile work hours can lead to […] The post The long-term impact of unstable shifts appeared first on workingmums.co.uk ..read more

Yesterday saw the publication of the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ report on Sure Start. Sure Start was England’s first big government initiative to provide holistic support to families with children under the age of five through a network of local ‘one-stop shops’, which brought together a range of services to support local families, including childcare. […] The post Why Sure Start worked appeared first on workingmums.co.uk ..read more

Having worked really hard to save some cash and carefully planned (and finally booked!) our first family holiday abroad to ensure we could afford to go without getting ourselves in a pickle, I was feeling pretty smug when we reached the Easter break. Cue dead washing machine, which fell off a cliff overnight, leaving us […] The post Why is it all so expensive? appeared first on workingmums.co.uk ..read more

The deadline for gender pay gap reporting for employers with over 250 workers was yesterday [it’s slightly earlier for public sector organisations]. Cue the search for particular well-known companies that have gone up or down. This week Goldman Sachs has come under the spotlight, for instance. But will there be fewer stories this year than […] The post Are we losing interest in gender pay reporting? appeared first on workingmums.co.uk ..read more