Today's parents miss the golden age that their own mothers enjoyed in the 1970s and 1980s, researchers found.
Mothers have less time to themselves and feel under greater pressure to juggle work and family life than the previous generation. As a result, 88 per cent said they felt guilty about the lack of time they spent with their children.
The survey of 1,000 mothers also found that more than a third said they had less time to themselves than their mothers did — just three hours a week or 26 minutes a day.
And 64 percent said this was because they felt they 'had' to go out to work, while nearly a third (29 per cent) said they were under constant pressure to be the 'perfect mother', the report found.
Other findings showed social network and parenting website were important in proving help and support among female communities
Kate Fox, of the Social Issues Research Centre, which conducted the survey for Procter & Gamble, said: "With increasing pressure on mothers to work a 'double shift' — to be the perfect mother as well as a wage-earner — support networks are more important than ever."
It comes as a separate report examining childcare in the leading industrialized nations found that working mothers in Britain spend just 81 minutes a day caring for their children as a "primary activity".
Critics say the pressure on women to work long hours, and leave their children in the hands of nurseries or child minders, is putting the well-being of their children at risk.
The study also reveals that, despite the fact that more and more modern mothers go out to work, the burden of childcare still falls on them — even if their husband is not in work.
A father who is not in work tends to spend just 63 minutes a day looking after his child — 18 minutes less than a mother who goes out to work.
Working fathers spare less than three quarters of an hour with their children.
小题1:What is the main idea of the passage?  

A．More and more modern mothers go out to work to support the families.

B．Today's parents would rather leave their children in the hands of nurseries.

C．Today's parents have less time to take care of their children.

D．To keep the balance of work and family is not an easy thing.

小题2:What does the underlined word "juggle" in Paragraph 2 probably mean?  

A．keep objects in the air

B．do many things at once

C．change things

D．organize spending

小题3:According to Kate Fox,         .   

A．people should learn to relax by using the network

B．network plays an important role in society

C．mothers should make use of the network to gain support

D．it is impossible for woman to become the "double shift"

小题4:Today's mothers lack the time to company their children mainly because         .   

A．they have no choice but go to work

B．they are under constant pressure

C．they want to be "the perfect mother"

D．they have less time to themselves

小题5: Which of the following statements is True?    

A．Mothers usually spend three hours looking after their children a day.

B．Since more and more modern mothers go out to work, the burden of childcare falls on fathers.

C．Child minders are good to the health of the children.

D．Mothers spend more time with their children than fathers.