Hey,
if there are any women that would discribe themselves as the typical "career women" it would be very nice if you wuold tell me something about your day-to-day life and the experiences you have.
I am a german student and I am about to do my a-levels next spring.
English is one of the two subjects I am specialized on (it is called "Leistungskurs") and for english I have to write my "Facharbeit".
That means I have to write approximately 20 pages about career women in GB and how they manage life with family and their career.

It would also help, if anyone knows the book "I don't know how she does it" by Allison Pearson because thats the type of woman I am searching for ; )

I hope some of you are able to help me! bye for now, Nina

That sounds like an interesting project!

This is a really big subject in the press at the moment, the work/life balance and how to devote enough time and energy to both a successful career and a fulfilling home life for you and your children. It's not easy, but has been made a little simpler by the introduction of new laws over maternity time off and pay when you ahve a baby, and more and more companies now have more flexible working hours.

Most UK mums take a year off when they have kids, some go back to work. I waited until my little boy went to school to start work part-time, so I'm not a realy career woman, but I do enjoy my job. I think it's important to have your own life outside of the children, otherwise i'd get bored! I have an office job, as an administraor for the local council and I work morning, which means I am there at the school gates to pick him up every afternoon. For me this is perfect, I use the afternoons to keep up with the housework and shopping and see friends, so it works out very well.

Some other mums I know work freelance from home, but find that they can't take on as many projects as they used to. I know one or two who went back to work full-time and use nannies to look after their kids, but I know they feel they are missing out on important parts of their children's development.

A study has recently proved that children whose mothers look after them in early life develop much better than those who are sent to childminders, it is on the BBC website here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4304528.stm

Here is an article also, about the work/life balance problems facing UK mums:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/f-rontpage/4444661.stm

I hope this helps!

MERCI BEAUCOUP!!!!

The links you mentioned were really useful and helpful for me. There are some statistics that help a lot.Really cool.
Do you mind it, if I take one of your statements to quote it in my essay?Do you know any other pages bout maternity leave and so on? Statistics would be helpful,too.

helped me a lot, Nina

try this site to find out all about maternity leave:
http://www.maternityalliance.org.uk/

good luck