Around 100,000 mothers have been forced to go back to work since the recession started, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics.
Experts believe this number will only grow as financially pressed women have no option but to bring in a wage for their families.
Since August 2007 - the date the credit crunch officially started - the number of women who stay at home has dropped by 97,000. A huge 20,000 returned to work this year between March and May.
There's also been a record rise in part-time work - 7.8 million - which suggests many families are having to take on extra work to keep afloat. Many women are forced to return to work after their husbands lose their jobs.
Women may also have had to return to work as household bills are increasing, but husbands' and partners' salaries are frozen.
Jill Kirby, the director of the Centre for Polity Studies and author of the report The Price of Parenthood said the need for money is driving family life.
She said: "Women are going into jobs to get through a very difficult financial time. Few mothers have the option to stay at home.
'Financial pressure is clearly driving them back into the workforce. They just have to do it.'
However, the recession has had an interesting twist on family life - less stay-at-home mums but more stay-at-home fathers. The numbers of dads at home has risen by 25,000 since the credit crunch began to 213,000.
Source: Daily Mail