Why are stay-at-home mums having a rant at Cherie Blair? Does the truth hurt?

These days, the majority of mothers work – it’s a fact. If you’re a stay-at-home mum then you’re in the minority – that’s another fact. According to the Office for National Statistics, 66 percent of mothers are now in some form of paid work. The number of working mothers is now around 5.3 million, up from 4.5 million in 1996 when 61 percent of mothers worked

Cherie Blair’s recent comments to Fortune magazine Most Powerful Women event has left a lot of mums reeling…but is it a case of the truth hurting or what?

All she said was: ““Every woman needs to be self-sufficient and in that way you really don’t have a choice – for your own satisfaction; you hear these yummy mummies talk about being the best possible mother and they put all their effort into their children. I also want to be the best possible mother, but I know that my job as a mother includes bringing my children up so actually they can live without me.”

Yes, it’s true that the average mother doesn’t have Cherie Blair’s salary to afford nannies and whatever else, but it’s also true that Cherie Blair didn’t get tax credits either.

I’ve had an interesting twitter debate with some mums in the past couple of days and much of their fury seems to lie in the fact that they (even though they were mostly working mums) feel that no one has the right to dictate to a mother whether she should work or not.

My argument has and always will be that it’s not about the money per se – if your spouse earns enough for you not to work fantastic, but there is voluntary work out there. The other issue I have, and I am not a feminist by any means, is why you would want to get Ickes money from your spouse – isn’t there something a little odd about not wanting to make your own money?

Another question I raise is why should other working mums pay their taxes so that other able bodied mother stay at home. Some of these mums have children who are primary school age – some even secondary school age – but they still refuse to work, choosing instead to live on benefits. Why not use that time to retrain and set up your own business, or get a career you can be proud of? Why should other people sponsor your lifestyle choice?

Then my last question to stay-at-home mums is, if you have no intention of ever working again, now that nature has been kind and blessed you with your children, how do you encourage your daughters to do well at school so they can be independent in future? You don’t work, so why should they study and do well at school?

Food for thought…