We went to the Labour Party Conference to listen, question and speak out for the choice for mothers who would like to spend more time with their babies and young children. Anna and Ange's plastic babies were our ice-breaker...read on to find out more!

The promise of change has captured the moment. The question is what will be the shape of that change? For Mothers at Home Matter, the question is how can we shape positive change for families?

We don’t doubt Keir Starmer is as sincere a family man as any of us. It is equally clear that his manifesto only says part of what they will want to do therefore we hope that it is a moment of opportunity in which a Labour government with a large majority will be seriously ready to listen to new ideas about what real people really want. 

With all our political parties promising to ensure children have “the best start in life”, where do they stand on early years care, parental choice and the value of family life?

(This post does not offer an analysis of these policies nor does it endorse any particular party. It is purely for information purposes.)

When the nonprofit organisation, Family and Home Network (FAHN), realised that Wikipedia's Stay-at-Home Mother page redirects to ‘Housewife’, they launched a writing project to set the record straight. They cite the work of our sister-organisation, FEFFAF in their article.

Anne Fennell has just returned from a trip to New York for the UN 68th Commission on the Status of Women. It was her first trip to the UN as President of the European Federation of Parents and Carers at Home whilst also representing MAHM.

After 14 years of campaigning, we were pleased to hear the Chancellor state publicly that the Child Benefit Tax Charge was unfair to families particularly where one parent stays at home to care. 

The fact that the principle of household taxation was publicly acknowledged means there is a public recognition that the principle can be changed to make life fairer for families. 

This is our last chance before the Spring budget to put pressure on the Chancellor to make Child Benefit fairer. Please write to your MP now to add your voice to the increasing pressure on the Chancellor to rectify this unjust tax charge.

We are delighted to announce that our research director Dr Maria Lyons has had her report published by independent think tank Civitas. Maria has reviewed 40 academic studies on universal childcare and finds a worrying lack of evidence on its supposed benefits. Universal childcare is frequently claimed to give every child the ‘best start in life’ but is this really the case?

Harriet Baldwin MP, Chair Treasury Select Committee, said on Woman’s Hour this week that her number one recommendation to the Chancellor for the Spring Budget would be to change the Child Benefit system.  This is a massive turnaround and exciting for MAHM who via Miriam Cates MP and in cooperation with Tax & the Family sent briefing papers to Harriet.

Despite the reductions to tax announced in today’s Autumn Statement, total tax revenue as a share of GDP remains to reach its highest level since the 1940s. This is due to the freezing of tax thresholds and high inflation which means that many more families are being pushed into paying tax and increasingly the high rate of tax. 

Don’t miss out on the annual Mothers At Home Matter conference! It’s both in-person and online this year. With talks by Kate Silverton and Liz Yeboah, you don’t want to miss out! Book your ticket now.

Anne Fennell talks to the Make Mothers Matter Network Coordinator Sarah Krimi. Mothers At Home Matter are grass roots members of the international MMM.

We need your stories! Struggling families who have a parent at home caring for their children also need help. A fairer tax system which recognises the household income rather than individual income with tax breaks would go a long way to supporting such families. This affects so many hard working families — please help us share your story.

Our voices have been heard! After campaigning for all mothers to be eligible for their state pension regardless of whether they sign up to the Child Benefit or not, it is finally coming to pass!

Mothers At Home Matter responds to the Prime Minister’s LinkedIn post today. When the time is right, it would be good to support mothers back into work with returner schemes and acknowledgement that they have gained important skills whilst childrearing. This is not necessarily at nine months when an infant still needs its mother or primary carer.

Had enough of being called ‘economically inactive’? It is time to find our voice and speak up for the value of care. Raising children and taking care of our elderly are not 'barriers to work’ or ‘burdens'. It is the most important work and the duty of every good society to take care of its most vulnerable members.

Is more childcare going to be good for babies and toddlers? Putting to one side for the moment the important questions of whether the new expansion of childcare will help mothers back to work (something that is debatable) and whether the majority of mothers would prefer childcare to caring for their babies themselves (also worth a debate), this important question is not being discussed in the public response.

The Chancellor has listened to the cry of childcare but is he prepared for the cry of separation? Mr Hunt has put another nail in the coffin for mothers wanting to make the choice to stay home to care. This attack on our freedom is justified in the name of productivity. ‘Getting mothers into paid work will boost the economy and growth’. But it is based on the insulting myth that mothers nurturing babies and toddlers are doing nothing at home; they are ‘inactive economic units’.

Miriam Cates, a huge supporter of the invisible work done by mothers based at home, was slated by ‘Pregnant then Screwed’ amongst others yesterday with some of her comments taken out of context and misquoted.

Mothers At Home Matter submitted written evidence to the Education Committee's inquiry, Support for childcare and the early years. It has been accepted by the committee and published on their website. You can read it here.