Sir, Alice Miles (Comment, April 23 ) is critical of Conservative proposals to give all mothers of under-3s £50-£60 to stay at home with their children, or spend on childcare, as they see fit. She uses the example of a high-earning mother who whinges ridiculously that she cannot afford to cut her hours to argue that parents need to sort their priorities out.

Obviously this woman does not need the £50 a week (although you could argue it is a minuscule sum compared with her family’s tax bill on a joint income of £175,000), but she is hardly representative. The mothers I rub shoulders with — middle-class, living in London — face much starker choices. £200,000 is a small mortgage now in London or the South East. “Normal” young couples don’t earn £175,000 — they earn £50,000 or £60,000 or £70,000 between them. Often the woman earns the higher wage. When she has a child she has no choices. She has to carry on working, often full-time, to keep a roof over her family’s head.

It is years since I spoke to any woman who complains about not being able to get back to work. The women I rub shoulders with want the option to work less and spend more time with their young children. I am not talking about women who are married to wealthy men but the vast majority who are not. Their options, in many cases, are becoming as limited as they were 30 years ago, only now they are trapped in work instead of the home.

There are worse things in life, of course, but it is heartbreaking for a mother to hand over a baby to a childminder or a nursery, day after day, when she doesn’t want to. And how can it be in the interests of the child? I don’t know if this policy is the answer, but I applaud the Conservatives for engaging with this issue.

Elizabeth Heathcote

London SE23

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