For new mothers, money makes the world go round

The amount of happiness a woman derives from having a child may be directly linked to her household income, a study suggests.

Only four out of 10 new mothers on low incomes said that having a baby had made them happier, compared with six in 10 higher-earning parents.

Those with a household income of £20,000 or less were twice as likely as wealthier parents to believe that motherhood was "not all it is cracked up to be", according to a study of 5,000 mothers by the parenting website Netmums.

Seventy-four per cent of respondents on low incomes said money worries most affected their moods – even more than lack of sleep (cited by 55 per cent), relationship issues (28 per cent) and badly behaved children (38 per cent).