The question has raged for decades, hasn’t it? Should one parent stay at home to look after the children whilst the other goes to work, or should both work? If so, should both work full-time, part-time, or a mixture of the two? And does the answer change depending on the age of the children? The mind boggles.

With these important family deliberations in mind, some new research1 out this week, commissioned by the Labour Party, has waded into this debate with some interesting conclusions. Something I found particularly interesting in the research (commissioned by Labour MP Tessa Jowell incidentally) was the finding that the overwhelming majority of the parents who took part in the study said that, in an ideal world, one parent should stay at home and look after the children (see graph below, taken from the research on page p.11)

This surely only adds further support for the conclusions of research, such as that published by CARE, which has suggested that in comparison to other developed nations, UK one-earner couples with children have much higher tax burdens, which the below graph neatly demonstrates (UK average figure taken from 2009 data).

Going back to the original question though, the above graph obviously does not prove that one-earner couples should stay at home. Yet, at the same time, it is surely not right that those parents who do wish to make that choice, and the Labour Party research suggests that very many do, should be potentially prevented from doing so by a tax system which penalises one-earner couples in the way that it does. Take note Mr Osborne!

1. You can read the full report ‘The Modern British Family’ here.