The parents of three out of five children with disabilities said their added responsibilities affected employment, and it was mothers who overwhelmingly said they adjusted their hours, Statistics Canada reported Thursday of a 2006 survey.

When parents were asked whose employment was most affected, 64 per cent of the time it was the mother's. In 25 per cent of cases, both parents said they adjusted their hours, while fathers said they did eight per cent of the time.

Other family members adjusted their paid work in three per cent of cases.

About 38 per cent of parents said they worked fewer hours, and another 36 per cent of survey participants said they adjusted their work schedules to accommodate children whose everyday activities are limited because of a health-related condition or problem.

"Flexible work schedules or options to telework are helpful for parents who need to care for their child and at the same time continue working," the report said.

During the 2006 survey, about 200,000 Canadian families said they were coping with the challenges of caring for a child with disabilities.

Families stressed

The severity of a child's disability largely determined the challenge to families, the report said.

The trend occurred in many aspects of the parents' lives, such as employment, finances, leisure, personal time and the ability to find help and child care.

Most parents said they were satisfied with the type of child care they currently had, but 21 per cent said a child-care service had refused to provide care for their child.

Half of parents reported sometimes or always feeling they had less personal time because of the responsibilities of their disabled children.

About 45 per cent also said their daily stress ranged from quite a bit to extremely stressful, and 26 per cent reported their child's health condition as the main source of stress.

About one in four parents received help in balancing daily activities, most often to squeeze in some personal time, attend to family responsibilities or get chores done.

The most recent participation and activity limitation survey took place between November 2006 and February 2007.