The four pie charts illustrate the employment patterns of mothers in Great Britain according to the age of their youngest dependent child, divided into the categories of 0-2 years, 3-4 years, 5-9 years, and 10 years.
Overall, there is a clear inverse relationship between the age of the youngest child and the proportion of mothers not working. While the majority of mothers with infants remain outside the labour force, participation in both part-time and full-time employment rises steadily as children grow older, with part-time work predominating during the school years and full-time work becoming increasingly common when the youngest child reaches 10.
In greater detail, when the youngest child is below two, seven in ten mothers are not engaged in paid work, and only a minority work part-time (19%) or full-time (11%). A similar trend persists among mothers of three- to four-year-olds, although the proportion not working declines markedly to 54%, accompanied by a substantial increase in part-time employment to 35%, while full-time employment remains unchanged at 11%.
The distribution shifts more noticeably when the youngest child is of primary school age (5-9 years). Here, part-time work becomes the dominant pattern, encompassing nearly half of mothers (48%), while non-employment drops further to 38%, and full-time work rises slightly to 14%. By contrast, among mothers whose youngest child is 10 years old, participation in the workforce is at its highest. Although part-time employment continues to represent the largest share (45%), nearly one-third of mothers (29%) work full-time, and only about a quarter (26%) are economically inactive.
In summary, the data reveal a progressive transition in mothers’ working patterns: from widespread non-employment in the early years of childcare, to a preference for part-time work during the middle years, and finally to a growing reliance on full-time work once children are older and less dependent.