With one in every 10 men unemployed, more women are finding themselves the main family earners.
When Ria Wilkes's husband lost his job as a pipefitter earlier this year, she never imagined she would become the family's breadwinner several months down the line.
A mum of two little boys, the eldest aged two and the youngest nine months, Wilkes understandably didn't expect (or, indeed, want) to return to full-time employment so soon. She left her job as a secretary just before she had her first child; and although she had a job on the side as an Avon representative, she didn't really mean it to be a career.
"To start with, the Avon work was just to get me out of the house – I didn't want to be stuck at home. And it got me earning some money. But when my husband was made redundant, that was it. We both knew my Avon job would have to become full-time to make ends meet," she says.
"I have never had so much responsibility on my shoulders in my life. Initially, I could not even process it – I just sat there and cried. When I realised it was all down to me, I felt scared."
Wilkes is not alone in making the transition from stay-at-home mum to full-time breadwinner – it's happening to more families and couples as the recessionary spate of job cuts continues to take its toll across the country.
The Guardian