Letter: Working parents

Sir: "Mothers' bonds with children `harmed by work', " you report on 8 November. But what about fathers' bonds? How "in tune" are fathers, particularly when they work full-time from their children's birth to their leaving home?

And what about the bonds of non-birth mothers in lesbian or heterosexual households? If they work when the children are small, does this create "less warm and positive relationships"?

Rather than this continual "guilting" or problematising of working mothers, I'd like to see more coverage of research on family diversity and innovative structures for child-rearing.

And what about promoting the idea that not only birth mothers but all of us could benefit from "community-friendly" working lives that allow us all to spend more time and energy developing our relationships with children and other adults?

DAVINA COOPER

Professor of Law

Keele University