Dual career stress is an everyday reality. There has been much ongoing debate about the potentially negative effects of ‘absent mothers’ on their children as more women enter the workforce.

Extensive studies have shown no significant detrimental effect provided an alternative nurturing caregiver is available (a single, consistent caregiver is best) and the child has opportunities for social interaction.

Stopping work to be with the kids should be done out of choice and preference rather than through guilt, fear or being ‘told to do so by some experts’. Dual career marriages are no worse than traditional single career ones, though special stresses such as decreased time together, relocation and childcare issues may arise.

Women in the workforce should recognise their own needs, make the most of the time they have with the children, get the children involved in household chores and agree on a fair division of household chores. Other strategies, which have been found to be helpful, include job sharing, flexitime and in-house childcare facilities.