[Angus]

When I first started work many moons ago it was common practice for employers to ask if you were intending to get married and have kids any time soon. I felt it was a perfectly valid question bearing in mind that most employers have to invest time, money and energy into training up female staff only for them to leave, either for good when they have kids, or for months on end on maternity leave.

Maybe the bigger companies can cope, but many smaller businesses who are struggling already in this economic climate cannot afford to take on staff who have no intention of staying in post long enough to justify an employer's investment in them.