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Anonymous 8 March @ 6.16 pm - this is frankly offensive. I have combined work with caring responsibilities (children and elderly parents - including both at the same time) and fulfilled my employer's and clients' requirements, even if it did mean working at weekends and sometime (when in private practice) until 11:00 at night.

Unfortunately it is still the case that women are biologically constructed to have the children. Culturally here it is still the case that women are expected to take on the lion's share of caring responsibilities for both children and elderly relatives (yes, I acknowledge that there are many wonderful men - among them my son - who very much do their part), and men are not expected to have much in the way of work-life balance (and many business and networking opportunities still tend to be male-orientated. Some women are happy not to be top of the tree and so chose not to head for the top; others may frankly be put off - not just in legal work - by a laddish culture. But for those who do aspire to lead then we need to enable equal opportunity for them to do so on a properly meritocratic basis - including properly equal remuneration.

If someone has the necessary qualifications and expertise, then it should not matter whether they are male/female/other, white/ non-white, disabled/non-disabled, etc. etc. As a starter, how about gender-blind recruiting. And an adult and sensible discussion (and expectation) of work-life balance for both men and women. Please stop all this mud-slinging - it's tiresome.