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flexible working culture of Denmark and wide, affordable child care, the proportion of mothers can return to work

"Never once thought about not returning to work after Martha," said Harris Miller Mette, kissing her 13-month-old daughter. "The only person I asked him if he thought leaving my job was a friend of English."

As staggers through the wood floor Marta ground Copenhagen Mette and her husband, Christian, ministry of 34 years, a lawyer for justice, adds: "I do not know anyone who is a mother living home, and no friends of my mother was right. Most women return to work after having children in Denmark. "

flexible hours culture means that Denmark Mette Christian or Martha can pick up 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.. Christian, 33, who is building a career as a freelance writer, said: "We need to spend much time with Martha's parents here are very involved in their children's lives Most men I know take about three months paternity license ... "

note that, while the two must work for economic reasons, which makes its configuration is the affordability of child care viable. In Denmark, families pay up to 25% of the cost of day care, people with low income or single parents who pay between nothing and 25% of the cost, with discounts for siblings. The government pays the difference.

When Holmgaard Maiken, 32, and his partner, Mads Buddig, 36, had a son Sylvester, now six, she was studying to be a special needs teacher. "I took lessons when I was a baby and he started kindergarten at one, when I had my first job. We do not have much money, we had a price below 700 crowns (£ 78) per month. It would have been difficult to manage if we had to pay more. "

The couple has two children. Meyer, two, attends the nursery and wildlife in the center of pre-school day care overlooking the harbor near his apartment in Copenhagen. Sitting at the kitchen table going into cinnamon rolls are baked, Mads, a graphic designer, explains how their income was affected by the economic downturn. "Now they pay about 4,000 crowns (£ 446) per month for both. With children at daycare, at least we can both work. We have friends who moved back to Denmark from the England two weeks ago and within six months. They are academics and concerned about the cost of child care. "

Mette and Maiken are not alone: ??Most women with children work in Denmark. Consequently, the country ranks fifth in the employment of women among the 34 countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Britain is 15.

cult TV drama The Danish policy

Borgen

, which describes the challenges faced, the first woman Prime Minister of Denmark, is one of the favorites to Westminster. But now, British politicians look to Denmark for more than entertainment. This is how the Danes hold her maternity leave and paternity leave, childcare and family policy that interests them.

two Labor and the coalition government is seeking ways to increase the number of women in the workplace as a means of stimulating long-term growth of the economy. Resolution Foundation, a group of experts, approximately one million women are "missing" in the labor force in the UK due to lack of funds for child care, parental leave and how unbalanced the tax credits and subsidies are not enough to encourage women to return to work.

Britain is one of the biggest investors in families in OECD countries, spending 3.6% of GDP on family benefits in 2007. Only Denmark and France spent more, by 3.7% each.

however, is how the money is spent that is under control. In terms of better outcomes, such as the ability to lift children out of poverty and increasing women's employment is Britain lagging behind the countries that spend less, such as Sweden and Finland. The Nordic countries tend to spend more on services to cash benefits for families. The UK does the opposite.

In the UK, 10% of state spending on family policy is intended to maternity and paternity leave, compared to 17% in Denmark. About 26% of expenditure in the UK is in kindergarten, compared to 49% in Denmark. The largest proportion of public spending on the family in the UK is tax credits, in 29%, compared to zero in Denmark.

The eye watering cost of childcare in the UK has become a barrier to employment for many women. An investigation by the Child Care Foundation found that a nursery place in England full time for a child under two costs an average of £ 193 per week. Prices in London and the South East are much higher. Child care funded by the State in the UK starts at three - or two for low-income families - and is limited to 15 hours per week

Parents in Britain spend on average one third of their household income net of child care, compared to an average of 13% in other major economies, according to OECD figures.

A recent study conducted by Save the Children found that the high cost of child care, and cuts in work tax credits and child tax credits, causing low fourth wages for parents to abandon their jobs. Always-paid professional women in Britain, as lawyers and accountants who use nannies, because they did not finish the job after nursery closed, complain that, after paying your nanny salary, taxes and social security contributions, they see little of their own after-tax profits.

all income spectrum, women who were out of the workforce are struggling to return to the effect of career breaks show that even a few years has a major impact on lifetime earnings and pension rights.

In the spotlight last Thursday Snorretoppen, young children, including son Mads and Maiken, Meyer - played in the sun in February. Inside, in rooms decorated with paintings of dragons and giraffes, another group participated in a gym. This is one of the most popular in the capital and scores of children on the waiting list.

In the UK women have more children, the worst employment rate compared to other countries. The female employment gap between England and the top five countries for women with a child is 12%, but among mothers with three or more children the gap in employment by 24%.

The low cost of child care, generous parental leave and the absence of a culture of long hours has been juggling a balance between work and family is as much a problem for many parents as mothers Danish family. There is also a widespread acceptance of high rates of income tax of around 50%.

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