Our attitudes towards mothers in the workplace have been revolutionised over the last hundred years, since the time that working mums were in a minority and excluded from many occupations. In today’s Britain, three-quarters of mothers are in paid work, and it is seen as an unremarkable fact of life. But how far do we still have to go? Cambridge lecturer Helen McCarthy ranges from the chimneys of 19th-century Manchester to the towers of Canary Wharf to find out. 

 

Chaired by Alice Wroe, founder of Herstory www.herstoryuk.org