HOME TRUTHS: Life as a stay-at-home mum is a tough job

Whether you choose to be at home with your children or just can’t afford childcare, life as a stay-at-home mum can devour your identity and sense of self-worth, writes Andrea Mara

AS families battle childcare costs, and reluctantly rely on two incomes to pay boom-time mortgages, being a stay-at-home mother is often seen as a luxury. But is giving up work to be at home with the children as rosy as it seems?

Stay-at-home motherhood has its drawbacks. There’s the groundhog-day housework and the non-stop school runs, neither of which are remunerated by a performance-based bonus or a promotion.