Mothers are now as likely to go out to work as women without children , figures showed yesterday . The historic landmark reached last year means just one mother in four stays at home to raise children . Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed 74.1 per cent of mothers with children under 16 , or between 16 and 18 if they are still at school , are regarded as ‘ participating in the labour market ’ . By comparison , 75 per cent of women without dependent children were either in work or looking for a job last year . Mothers are now as likely to go out to work as women without children , figures showed yesterday . In the mid-1990s , only two thirds of mothers had jobs , while then , as now , three in four childless women were working . The gap has closed because there are now half a million more women with children under five in work , or looking for jobs , than in 1996 . There are also 200,000 more women with children aged between five and ten in the labour market . Mothers were briefly more likely to have jobs than women without families in 2013 , the ONS report revealed , but last year more than 350,000 childless women entered the growing labour market . The latest figures will be welcomed by Coalition ministers . Chancellor George Osborne said in his Budget speech on Wednesday that a key element of the Government ’ s ‘ massive moment ’ in job creation , giving Britain its highest-ever employment rate , was ‘ more women in work than ever before ’ . Ministers have claimed credit for raising state subsidies for childcare from £2billion to £3billion a year since 2010 . But critics of the Government ’ s drive for more mothers to go out to work say many are reluctant to do so and would prefer to stay at home to bring up their children . The historic landmark reached last year means just one mother in four stays at home to raise children ( picture posed by models ) Author and family commentator Jill Kirby said the figures were a result of government efforts to persuade mothers that ‘ children are better off in childcare ’ , adding : ‘ Children are losing out – a string of different childcare workers is no substitute for the love of a mother. ’ Imogen Thompson , of the pressure group Mothers at Home Matter , said : ‘ We question whether this is what all women want , or whether many are forced into returning to the labour market before they feel they , or their children , are ready. ’ The new estimates are based on the large-scale Labour Force Survey covering women who either have jobs or are unemployed and looking for work . The ONS report said benefit changes that have pressed single parents into looking for work may have influenced the change . It added : ‘ Other government policies , for example to fund 570 hours of free early education childcare a year in England for all three to four-year-olds , will have provided additional incentives to engage with the labour market. ’ The biggest change has been among mothers of children under five . In 1996 , 1.6million of them were in the labour market , compared with 2.1million last year . This represents a rise from 54.5 per cent of mothers of under-fives in work in 1996 to 65 per cent now . More mothers of older children are also working , but the rise has been much less steep , while the rates for women without dependents have not changed in nearly 20 years . The report said 74.5 per cent of all adult women had jobs in 2014 , compared with 71.3 per cent in 1994 . The most popular jobs for women are either in teaching and education , or ‘ caring personal services ’ , including medical work , or in shops .
Just one in four mothers stay at home to raise their children , figures reveal . Around 74 % of mothers with children the mid-1990s are 'in the labour market ' Meanwhile 75 % of women without children are in work or looking for it . In under 16 , only two thirds of Britain 's mothers were working .