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Mums Hub is shaped by lived experience, local research and national evidence on mothers, care, childcare, flexible work and returning to employment. Our research helps explain why more realistic, part-time and school-hour pathways are needed for mothers who want to work, train or rebuild confidence.
Our first report
Needs Assessment & Evidence Report
Mums Hub’s first Needs Assessment & Evidence Report looks at the barriers mothers face when returning to work in the North East Inner City, Dublin. It brings together national research, European evidence, local survey findings and lived experience from mothers to show why more flexible, part-time and school-hour pathways are needed.
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The report shows that many mothers are not lacking motivation. They are being held back by systems that do not fit around care.
Local focus
The report focuses on mothers in and around the NEIC, while also looking at wider Irish and European evidence.
Lived experience
It includes direct input from mothers about childcare, confidence, flexible work and the realities of returning to employment.
Practical purpose
The findings are being used to shape Mums Hub’s resources, programmes, employer work and advocacy.
Read The Full Report
Key findings
What the research tells us
The evidence points to the same issue again and again. Many mothers want to work, train or increase their hours, but the routes available do not always fit around childcare, school hours, confidence, transport or family life. The need is not just for jobs. It is for realistic pathways.
Flexible work is essential
Mothers need access to part-time, flexible and school-hour roles that are treated as real employment, not as a lesser option.
Childcare shapes choices
High childcare costs, waiting lists and limited availability can make work financially or practically impossible for many families.
Confidence matters
Time away from paid work can affect confidence and self-belief, even when mothers have strong skills and experience.
Support is fragmented
Many mothers do not know where to start, especially if they are not connected to social welfare or formal employment supports.
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What this means
The need is clear
The research shows that many mothers are willing to work, train or increase their hours, but the routes available do not always fit around real family life. Childcare, school hours, confidence, flexible work and access to support are all connected. If one part is missing, the whole pathway can become difficult or impossible.
Mothers do not need more pressure. They need practical pathways that recognise care.
Flexible pathways are needed
Part-time, flexible and school-hour work should be easier to find and treated as proper employment.
Support must be easier to access
Mothers need clear information, confidence-building and guidance, especially when they are not linked to formal employment supports.
Employers have a role
More employers need support to create realistic roles that work for both families and workplaces.
Full report
Read the full Needs Assessment & Evidence Report
Our full report brings together national evidence, European research, local survey findings and lived experience from mothers in and around the North East Inner City. It provides the evidence base behind Mums Hub’s work and helps shape our resources, programmes, employer engagement and advocacy.
Needs Assessment & Evidence Report
Mothers Returning to Work in the NEIC
Mums Hub CLG
April 2026
Read the full report
Policy Submissions
Mums Hub contributes to public consultations and policy discussions where they affect mothers, care, child wellbeing, employment, financial independence and family life.
Our submissions are grounded in lived experience, community evidence and the voices of mothers engaging with Mums Hub. Together, they reflect a consistent message: supporting mothers, recognising care and creating realistic pathways into work are essential to stronger families, communities and outcomes for children.
Care Is Infrastructure: Working Age and Targeted Child Payments
Department of Social Protection | June 2026
Mums Hub’s submission calls for income-support reform to recognise unpaid care, support primary caregivers in their own right, protect financial independence, and create realistic pathways into flexible, part-time and care-compatible employment.
Read submissionChildren’s Wellbeing and Fragmented Systems
European Child Guarantee Consultation | April 2026
Mums Hub’s EU submission focuses on how fragmented services, childcare access, developmental supports, inclusive education, play spaces, sport and family pressure affect children’s wellbeing and everyday life.
Read submissionThe First Five Years, Care and Economic Reality
National Conversation on Education | February 2026
This submission highlights how early years policy, childcare, school-age care, labour-market design and family finances are deeply connected. It argues that real parental choice requires economic viability and recognition of care as infrastructure.
Read submissionSchool-Hour Jobs, Dignity and Independence
Department of Social Protection | September 2025
Submitted to the consultation on the successor to Pathways to Work 2021–2025, this paper sets out the case for flexible, school-hour employment as a practical pathway for mothers to access dignity, income, confidence and community participation.
Read submission
