More than a third of new and expectant mums look to set up their own business from home to combine child care and income generation, a survey suggests.

The survey, commissioned by AXA Protection among 1,354 new and expectant mums, found that on average, those polled are generating £467.91 in earnings per month from home-based business ventures, equivalent to £5,614 a year.

In addition, nearly 35 per cent of the women polled say they currently work from home or are looking to work from home, spending an average of 18.4 hours a week on these money making activities, equivalent to around 2.5 days in an average 9am - 5pm office environment.

The research also revealed that 21 per cent of respondents say they are actively considering retraining or using existing craft-based skills to earn money from home, with 10 per cent saying they would consider re-training or using existing heath therapy skills to earn an income while working from home.

Eight per cent are considering looking after other people's children in return for payment and 4 per cent said they would consider retraining or using existing sports-based skills to earn an income from home, with 25 per cent saying they would consider returning to their previous job if they could work remotely from a home office.

Iain Mallon, head of AXA Protection, said: "It is interesting to see how many new and expectant mothers are looking to start their own businesses from home and also the level of contribution that they are currently making to family incomes through home-working activities.

"By undertaking this activity, these entrepreneurial mothers are making a significant contribution to both the economy and their family's financial wellbeing.

"While clearly good news, we would encourage families to ensure they have the necessary income and critical illness policies in place to protect the income generated by these home entrepreneurs.

"While many companies will provide life insurance or death in service benefits for their staff, entrepreneurs and the self-employed are reliant on providing these themselves and as mothers contributions to the family income become increasingly key, so ensuring that the right protection plans are in place to safeguard this income becomes ever more important."

Needing the money was cited by more than one-in-four of the new and expectant mothers questioned as the reason either working from home or considering doing this, with a further 20 per cent stating they don't want to give up their career but needed to combine work with child care.

A further 9 per cent of those questioned said they had always wanted to start their own business from home and 8 per cent said they were motivated by the high cost of child care or lack of child care places, making it imperative that they have to work from home.

The article Entrepreneurial mums making money from home originally appeared on 999 Today