Britain’s mothers are saving the country

Without new mums’ help in community projects, the UK would struggle to cope. So the Helping Hands campaign is being launched to support them. New mums, we salute you!

Stop press!

Britain’s mothers are worth almost £1billion a year. And, according to a new study commissioned by Mother & Baby and Tesco Baby & Toddler Club, without the hours of unpaid work provided by mums, the country would be on its knees.
Whether it’s helping with children’s reading at schools or the hours dedicated to charity work, our study reveals that women with children aged under five work 916 million hours a year – for free.

If these women were paid the minimum wage of £5.52 an hour it’d cost the Government almost £1billion every year.

Our Helping Hands study reveals that not only do we raise well over half a billion pounds for charity every five years, but 55% of new mothers also help their local community for ‘at least two hours a week’ and 10% help ‘more than 10 hours a week’.

Springing into action

So how exactly are we spending our time? Among the various ways of getting involved, some 33% of mothers help out at toddler groups, 20% with reading in schools, 11% hold fund-raising coffee mornings and 34% organise local events.
Best of all, mothers are on the front line when it comes to campaigning. One in 10 mums has ‘run a campaign to create a new service’ and a quarter have ‘actively taken part in a local campaign’, be it for speed restrictions, wider pavements or cleaning up the local area.

‘Communities would be in dire straits if it wasn’t for the work of mothers,’ says Miranda Levy, editor of M&B and mother to Annabel, five, and Jacob, four. ‘From raising funds to helping with school reading schemes, mothers are on hand to help, free of charge, day in and day out. We save the Government a fortune.’

Be inspired

Some 68% of mums surveyed said motherhood ‘energises’ them to become more public-spirited. Nine out of 10 said ‘becoming a mum has made them more aware of other people’s needs’, while six out of 10 insisted motherhood makes them ‘more ambitious’. Many agree that motherhood opens their eyes to issues, such as poor public transport for women with prams. Some 48% of mums said they were ‘more irritated/disgruntled with local services’, 57% that they were ‘angrier about shortcomings in UK society’ and 40% were ‘angrier about the state of the world in general’.

‘The Helping Hands study shows mothers have a biological drive to improve the world for their offspring,’ says Miranda. ‘Having a baby makes you want to try to change things.’ It’s also clear mothers feel their efforts aren’t appreciated: a whopping 90% think the Government ‘takes their goodwill for granted’. But they’re undeterred. Eight out of 10 mothers who help their community say it makes them ‘happier’, while almost half say they’ve improved communication skills and gained confidence.

There’s also the by-product ofimproving your social life: 68% of mothers who get involved in their community say they’ve met like-minded women. Tesco Baby & Toddler Club Manager Jenna Copeland says, ‘Helping others is a great way to make friends, especially as so many mums now live miles away from their own family support system.’

You’ll feel better, too

Finally, an unexpected bonus: among those surveyed, women with a public-spirited mindset were more likely to remain happy in relationships, with 99% content, compared with one in 10 of the new-motherhood community at large.
‘One of the big issues between couples once a baby arrives is a mother’s lack of
a social life compared to a father’s,’ says Miranda. ‘However, our Helping Hands study shows that women who get involved in their community are not only happier in their relationship, but in every other way too.’

Tell us your story here about how you've helped out your local community