Millions of British parents are being obliged to head back to work after having children because of their money problems, it has been suggested.

Over 70 per cent of employed parents around the country say they would have preferred to stay at home to raise their children, yet the number of mothers doing so is falling, according to uSwitch.com.

In all, a third of parents with children younger than two years feel they have been forced back to work by money problems and a desire to avoid debt management troubles.

Furthermore, rising living costs and a general squeeze on household finances in recent months have seen fewer parents staying at home than at any time during the past 15 years.

"There is still a lot of work to be done to ease the strain on family finances, but in the meantime, families can help themselves by taking a long hard look at their household budgets to see where they can cut costs," said Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch.com.

Families struggling with debt problems were advised by the Council of Mortgage Lenders recently to prioritise their arrears in order to clear them more easily.