By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 09:33 EST, 12 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 10:15 EST, 12 December 2013 . Revolution: Labour MP Lucy Powell said attitudes in society towards working parents had to change . Working mothers are seen as ‘scatty clock-watchers’ who are given a bad name by out-of-date sitcoms, a Labour frontbencher has warned. Lucy Powell said attitudes had to change because the days of dad working while mum 'stays at home bringing up the kids' are long gone. The shadow childcare minister said she wanted to ‘bust the myth’ of working parents as unreliable employees. Miss Powell, who recently returned to Westminster from maternity leave, called for a revolution in the way employers and colleagues view working parents. She said attitudes will not change while there is just one mother in the Cabinet. And she complained that the depiction of mothers on television has not changed since the 1970s, when the sitcom Butterflies featured the frustrated, culinary-challenged housewife Ria, played by Wendy Craig. Mothers are wrongly seen as unfocussed employees who take too much time off while fathers have requests for leave rejected, she said. In her first speech since taking the role in Ed Miliband’s reshuffle, she said society must value the contribution parents make in the workplace. ‘They too often get a raw deal and suffer from prejudice. Too often working parents are given a bad name at work: seen as not focused on the job or having to leave early or take time off. ‘I want to bust this myth. I want to champion working parents, particularly working mums, and I want business and other organisations to join me. ‘Far from being scatty and clock-watching, working mums have done a day’s work before they leave the house - we don’t waste a minute of our day.’ Stereotype: The way that mothers are depicted on TV has not changed since the 1970s sitcom Butterflies, starring Wendy Craig and Geoffrey Palmer, Andrew Hall (far left) and Nicholas Lyndhurst (far right), Miss Powell said . The gap between what men and women earn in work has widened for the first time in five years, new figures show. Full-time . men now earn 10 per cent more than their female colleagues, but . including all employees the gap has risen 19.6 per cent to 19.7 per . cent. Unions seized on the figures as proof that years of ‘slow, steady progress’ on pay equality was being eroded. Full-time pay for men increased by 1.8 per cent to £556 a week and went up by 2.2 per cent for women to £459. Working mothers are ‘highly productive’ and ‘loyal and creative employees’, she added. ‘We should be celebrating, not berating, the role parents play in the workforce and in society. ‘This . is a job for all of us. It is shocking that there is only one mum in . David  Cameron's cabinet, and the depiction of mums on the TV hasn’t . moved on much from Wendy Craig's character Ria in Butterflies. ‘That’s why we need more working mums in positions of power and culturally to reflect the positive contribution we make.’ Childcare for working parents has become a major political battleground, with all the main parties claiming to be on the side of families. Labour has promised to extend free childcare for three and four year olds with working parents from 15 to 25 hours. It would also guarantee childcare before and after school for primary school age children. Meanwhile the coalition is offering free childcare for two-year-olds from the poorest households, and will a tax break worth £1,200 off the cost of childcare. Mr Cameron surprised the Commons yesterday when he revealed that matertnity pay will be included in the new cap on total welfare spending. The Treasury scrambled to say that if Britain’s benefits bill breached the new cap, likely to be around £100billion, maternity pay would be the last thing to be touched. But in last year's Autumn Statement Mr Osborne announced that maternity pay would be uprated by just one per cent, instead of in line with inflation, in a move dubbed the 'Mummy Tax'. Myth: Miss Powell said she wanted to change the idea that working mothers were unfocussed, scatty employees who kept taking time off . Miss Powell added: 'Gone are the days of dad working while mum stays at home bringing up the kids. While this is the choice of some, it is not the reality for the majority. 'My generation of women expected that we could 'have it all' but we are all too often still having to choose between career and motherhood, and being plagued by guilt whichever path we take. There remains an impenetrable glass ceiling for working mums. 'I want my daughter’s generation to be able to have the best of both worlds and to have real choice. 'So my main message to you today, is that in order for this to be realised we need an ambitious agenda for childcare and family policy. 'While there’s been a quiet revolution in the way people live their lives, we now need a childcare revolution to match it'
Shadow childcare minister Lucy Powell calls for a revolution in attitudes .
The days of dad working and mum staying at home are over, she says .
Labour wants to give every 3 and 4-year-old 25 hours' free childcare .
Gender pay gap has widened for the first time in five years, ONS says .
By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 09:33 EST, 12 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 10:15 EST, 12 December 2013 . Revolution: Labour MP Lucy Powell said attitudes in society towards working parents had to change . Working mothers are seen as ‘scatty clock-watchers’ who are given a bad name by out-of-date sitcoms, a Labour frontbencher has warned. Lucy Powell said attitudes had to change because the days of dad working while mum 'stays at home bringing up the kids' are long gone. The shadow childcare minister said she wanted to ‘bust the myth’ of working parents as unreliable employees. Miss Powell, who recently returned to Westminster from maternity leave, called for a revolution in the way employers and colleagues view working parents. She said attitudes will not change while there is just one mother in the Cabinet. And she complained that the depiction of mothers on television has not changed since the 1970s, when the sitcom Butterflies featured the frustrated, culinary-challenged housewife Ria, played by Wendy Craig. Mothers are wrongly seen as unfocussed employees who take too much time off while fathers have requests for leave rejected, she said. In her first speech since taking the role in Ed Miliband’s reshuffle, she said society must value the contribution parents make in the workplace. ‘They too often get a raw deal and suffer from prejudice. Too often working parents are given a bad name at work: seen as not focused on the job or having to leave early or take time off. ‘I want to bust this myth. I want to champion working parents, particularly working mums, and I want business and other organisations to join me. ‘Far from being scatty and clock-watching, working mums have done a day’s work before they leave the house - we don’t waste a minute of our day.’ Stereotype: The way that mothers are depicted on TV has not changed since the 1970s sitcom Butterflies, starring Wendy Craig and Geoffrey Palmer, Andrew Hall (far left) and Nicholas Lyndhurst (far right), Miss Powell said . The gap between what men and women earn in work has widened for the first time in five years, new figures show. Full-time . men now earn 10 per cent more than their female colleagues, but . including all employees the gap has risen 19.6 per cent to 19.7 per . cent. Unions seized on the figures as proof that years of ‘slow, steady progress’ on pay equality was being eroded. Full-time pay for men increased by 1.8 per cent to £556 a week and went up by 2.2 per cent for women to £459. Working mothers are ‘highly productive’ and ‘loyal and creative employees’, she added. ‘We should be celebrating, not berating, the role parents play in the workforce and in society. ‘This . is a job for all of us. It is shocking that there is only one mum in . David  Cameron's cabinet, and the depiction of mums on the TV hasn’t . moved on much from Wendy Craig's character Ria in Butterflies. ‘That’s why we need more working mums in positions of power and culturally to reflect the positive contribution we make.’ Childcare for working parents has become a major political battleground, with all the main parties claiming to be on the side of families. Labour has promised to extend free childcare for three and four year olds with working parents from 15 to 25 hours. It would also guarantee childcare before and after school for primary school age children. Meanwhile the coalition is offering free childcare for two-year-olds from the poorest households, and will a tax break worth £1,200 off the cost of childcare. Mr Cameron surprised the Commons yesterday when he revealed that matertnity pay will be included in the new cap on total welfare spending. The Treasury scrambled to say that if Britain’s benefits bill breached the new cap, likely to be around £100billion, maternity pay would be the last thing to be touched. But in last year's Autumn Statement Mr Osborne announced that maternity pay would be uprated by just one per cent, instead of in line with inflation, in a move dubbed the 'Mummy Tax'. Myth: Miss Powell said she wanted to change the idea that working mothers were unfocussed, scatty employees who kept taking time off . Miss Powell added: 'Gone are the days of dad working while mum stays at home bringing up the kids. While this is the choice of some, it is not the reality for the majority. 'My generation of women expected that we could 'have it all' but we are all too often still having to choose between career and motherhood, and being plagued by guilt whichever path we take. There remains an impenetrable glass ceiling for working mums. 'I want my daughter’s generation to be able to have the best of both worlds and to have real choice. 'So my main message to you today, is that in order for this to be realised we need an ambitious agenda for childcare and family policy. 'While there’s been a quiet revolution in the way people live their lives, we now need a childcare revolution to match it'
Revolution: Labour MP Lucy Powell said attitudes because the days of dad working while mum 'stays at home bringing up the kids' are long gone. The shadow childcare minister said she wanted to revolution in the way employers and colleagues work has widened for the first time in five to 25 hours. It would also guarantee childcare