New book claims women can do it all

A new US book says mums working outside the home don’t have it bad at all — and more controversially, it gets easier when you make it to the top. Andrea Mara puts its controversial theories to the test

Working motherhood isn’t so hard really. That’s the message in Laura Vanderkam’s book I Know How She Does It, a conclusion she reached after analysing hundreds of time-logs from working mothers.

Try selling that message to the woman whose children are in crèche for 45 hours a week — a figure that’s branded on her guilt-addled brain — or to the woman who is waiting for the right moment to slip out of a meeting so she can race to pick up the kids.