EU to U.K.: Get moms back to work

Stay-at-home moms in the U.K. need to get back into the workforce, according to a European Union (EU) recommendation presented to financial leaders last week.

The EU Council report, given to British Chancellor George Osborne on Friday, included a call to work on “social challenges” hampering the country's labor market. Among these challenges, the EU Counsel noted the high percentage of stay-at-home mothers: “The percentage of women who are inactive or work part-time due to personal and family responsibilities (12.5 percent) was almost twice as high as the EU average (6.3 percent) in 2013.” The report suggested availability of “affordable, high-quality, full-time childcare” was a key issue.

In addition to higher rates of stay-at-home moms, the EU also said the difference in rates of part-time work for women, 42 percent, and men, 13 percent, is one of the highest in the EU.

The recommendation caused a firestorm of indignation from British leaders, who called the suggestion “ridiculous” and said the EU had no right to lecture families.

“They have no right whatsoever to tell women and families to go to work,” Tory MP Peter Bone told the Telegraph. “It is not within spitting distance of what they should be doing.”

Parents should have flexibility in making work and family decisions, Robert Oxley of the group Business for Britain told the Express.

“Of course, the government can reduce barriers to employment for working parents. But frankly the European Union, which is beset by chronic unemployment and lackluster growth, has bigger crises to worry about. It should not be hectoring the U.K. on its glowing employment record.”

The EU report, based on routine economic analysis by the European Commission, noted the U.K.’s employment rate reached 76.5 percent in 2014, and the unemployment rate fell to 6 percent, with a further drop projected for 2015. Despite these positive statistics, the commission is pushing European countries to get more working-aged adults employed.

But according to the Office of National Statistics, more women in the U.K. are leaving the home and returning to work. A 2013 report noted a 31 percent drop in the number of women staying home to care for family, from nearly 3 million women in 1993 to just over 2 million currently. Just this past year the number dropped by 13,000.

Despite this reality, response to the EU recommendation was clear: stop bossing us around.

“How British families organize their care is up to them,” Laura Perrins, of the group Mothers at Home Matter told the Telegraph. “They shouldn’t be lectured to by the British government, or bean-counters in Europe. This is just another bullying tactic to get mothers to leave their young children.”