A lot has been written about the Credit Crunch and its impact on households across the UK.

One beneficiary of the downturn in the economy has been nanny agencies which have seen a surge in demand as young mothers return to work to boost the family income.

Some mothers are going back full-time, often to very successful careers they put on hold to have children; while other mothers are teaming up with friends in a similar situation to nanny share.

Nanny sharing keeps the costs down and also gives mothers the flexibility of only working a couple of days a week rather than returning full-time.

While Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures have long shown a decline in the number of stay-at-home mothers, a large number of professional couples had remained relatively immune.

With energy, petrol, mortgage, food bills and the overall cost of living rocketing, many mums have been left with no alternative but to return to work either full or part-time.

According to experts, parents are also having to adapt in other ways with stories of value supermarkets doing record business, more people holidaying in the UK this year and non essential car journeys being scrapped.