A new study has revealed that less family-friendly policies at work have led to many working women quitting their jobs after they become mothers.

The Life Patterns study, which is claimed to be Australia's longest-running study of the lives of young people, was carried out by the University of Melbourne.

It found that, although most of the women had ranked their career as a top priority, many of them left the workplace after having a child due to pressure of long working hours and lack of maternity support in family.

Only 38 per cent of mothers managed to work full-time as compared to 90 per cent of men.
The study's lead researcher, Professor Johanna Wyn, said, “Most of the women had believed they would be able to sustain a family and a career.

“Our young women are encouraged to excel academically but when its time to start a family, there is very little support from employers.

“Unfortunately, we find our workforce losing huge numbers of talented individuals,” Ms Wyn added.

A British study has backed up the findings, reporting that around half of all working mothers in the UK would prefer to be full-time mothers, while around one fifth would like to work from home.

Over 60 per cent of working mothers felt that they took their stress out on their families.