Vital statistics about UK Working Mums By John Hartshorn, e-Mum.com Just how many working mothers are there in the UK? Are working mothers really a minority? We have had many people ask us why we chose to build a site for mums, particularly working mums. Well, apart from the fact that we have a certain amount of subject knowledge, it became apparent to us that there are so many of you out there and yet you have so far had very little on the internet giving you want you want - everything in one place. Yes, there are numerous pure parenting sites, and yes there are plenty of women's sites with some interest to mums. So we thought it was high time we did some more research and let you know that you are not alone out there, and you are certainly not a minority! There are around 4.97 million of you who work and have dependent children under the age of 18. Of this number, 1.84 million of you work in full time jobs, and 2.8 million work in part-time jobs. Around 322,000 mums are currently registered as unemployed. The number of mums (with dependent kids under 18) who are considered to be "economically inactive" (who were once called housewives!) is 2.45 million. So if you're wrestling with the guilt of being a working mum, as many mums who contact us are, then you're actually part of the majority not the minority! Yes, a staggering 62.6% of all you mums with dependent children actually work. And 50% of mums whose youngest child is under 5 go out to work in some form. Working mums currently represent 19.5% of the UK's female population (aged 15 and up). We also read with interest in a recent edition of Internet Magazine that women are to lead the next wave of internet growth, according to a survey published recently by survey specialists Angus Reid Group. So not only are you not alone out there wrestling with the issues of work and family, but you are also part of the new wave of growth in cyberspace - even reversing the trend set by men! John Hartshorn is the co-founder of e-Mum.com. Source of statistics: Labour Force Survey; ONS. Data for Spring 1998.