Do women decide to put their careers on a back burner when they have kids? Not all of them, as JENNY SCOTT found out. . .

THE idea that women -- and particularly mothers -- should automatically give up their careers to look after the family was apparently as outdated as washboards and mangles or stockings with seams.

That is, until last week when Kevin White, a Government advisor from the Department of Work and Pensions, claimed many women lack ambition and prefer to do low-paid work so they can spend more time with their families.

Mr White's comments were promptly branded "insensitive and chauvinistic" by unions and the hapless civil servant has subsequently seen a backlash from female business high-flyers, including two women from East Lancashire.

"It's obviously a male point of view and it's very unfair," said Helen Colley, 38, a mother of three and MD of award winning pudding company Farmhouse Fare in Clitheroe.

Helen founded her business six years ago. Her subsequent success has seen her win a clutch of awards and land invitations to prestigious events like the Women Of The Year lunch in London.

So has Helen had any Kenco moments while doing her job -- as in the Cherie Lunghi coffee adverts where clients don't expect to encounter a female boss?

"Not with the people I deal with directly," she said. "Most people know who I am and what I do.

"But there are a few dinosaurs out there. Sometimes people will bypass me because they don't realise I'm the MD. It's always very amusing when they find out."

But even if you're the company MD, you still face the tricky task of balancing your career with your family.

Helen admits she is fortunate in having a supportive family network, but how do you manage if you're a single mum? Helen Flynn, 28, is managing director of Hub Marketing in Rawtenstall and also full-time mum to two-year-old Jess.

After spending two years in a high-pressure job in the City, often working 14 hour days, Helen decided to take a step back from life in the capital when she became pregnant and returned to her Ribchester home.

"People do have this attitude that being a working mum is somehow a conflict of interests," she said. "It's true I've had to refocus my ambition. I can't work all the hours God sends any more.

"I drop my daughter off at nursery at 7.30am and pick her up at 6.30pm. I make her tea, then in the evenings I work from home."

Helen freely admits to being ambitious and agrees people still respond to her business success in different ways.

"Some people can be threatened by hugely ambitious, driven women," she said.

But what annoys both MDs most is Mr White's assumption that because you're female, you should automatically settle for less with your career.

"To say something like that is a huge generalisation," said Helen. "Some people are ambitious for their careers and some aren't. It's not about being a man or woman. If I didn't work I would feel very frustrated and that would affect my home life."

Yet even now, it seems it's still so easy to define women's choices in fairly narrowminded terms. As Helen said: "There's so much pressure on women these days. If you go to work, you must be a bad mum. If you stay at home, you've no ambition. You can't win!"