Bernadette Macdonald and her family have enjoyed a "life- changing experience" and all it took was for the mother-of-two to cut her working week by just five hours.

That precious time is now spent with her eldest daughter Jessie, aged six, who she can pick up from school, help with her homework and enjoy some added value time with.

As the balance between her home life and work life as a manager became more difficult, Mrs Macdonald - who has another daughter, Katie, aged two - requested a flexible working programme from her employer, Royal Bank of Scotland, to allow her to spend more time on her priorities away from the office.

It is a move, she said, that has led to a more relaxed family and even better progress at school for Jessie. Mrs Macdonald, 39, of Balerno, Edinburgh, said: "I first started toying with the idea of flexible working when Jessie went to school.

"She underwent a bit of a personality transplant. It was the change from nursery to the big school, dealing with a lot more people. It just left her exhausted.

"Jessie needed some more one-on-one time. Before I would get in at 5pm and do her homework with her, but by that time she was off the boil, she wasn't interested.

"Once she had taken her school uniform off it was her time, but now doing it straight away means that it gets done and it is less of a problem. It has been life changing for us as a family. Honestly, if I hadn't done this I think I would be on course for a mid-life crisis."

It is estimated that 14 million people in Britain take advantage of flexible-working plans, which can involve options including term-time working, variable or compressed hours and the buying and selling of holidays.

Another 4.5 million parents are set to benefit after the UK government announced it wants to extend the rights of parents to request flexible working from those who have children aged five and under to those who have children aged between six and 16.

Mrs Macdonald said that it is, arguably, those with children of school age who need the extra support the most. "My youngest daughter is at nursery, she is two, and she is quite happy. She is not so aware of her surroundings as Jessie and just gets on with it. It is the parents of those who go to school that need the most help and it will be like that until they leave. They need a lot of parental support, and then there will be exams to come in the future."

The government yesterday put forward proposals for changing parents rights following a report by Imelda Walsh, HR director of Sainsbury's, which was commissioned by the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to examine current approaches.

Ms Walsh recognised that parents of school-age children needed extra support, following evidence from employers who suggested that the greatest number of flexible-working requests came when the child was born; when the child started school and again when he or she changed school at the age of 11.

Ms Walsh reported: "Perhaps the most challenging period a parent faces in bringing up a child is the difficult transition from childhood to young adulthood via the teenage years.

"A parent's relationship with their teenage son or daughter is key, and time with them will often be on their terms. Many parents will be able to maintain an open relationship with their teenager without a need to change their current work pattern, while others will be faced with issues where they feel that they need to be more visible at home or at the end of the school day.

"Finally, educational support is an increasing concern for parents. Exams are important stages of a child's educational development and some parents will want to work more flexibly, either on a permanent or temporary basis, to help their child prepare."

Companies recognise that staff with flexible working arrangements can be more productive in the workplace, with family life encroaching less on work-based duties. Firms are also keen to retain existing staff rather than embark on expensive recruitment processes to find new ones. Mrs Macdonald said she set out for her bosses the benefits that changing her hours could bring.

She told them: "I said I wouldn't have to take time out to take my children to the dentists, or go to the GP. I would be less likely to be off work or be stressed out while at work. It works for everyone.

"I had my parents evening this week and the teacher said she had noticed a big difference in Jessie. My husband thinks it is a coincidence, that she is just getting older and getting used to school, but I am convinced it is because we have that little bit of quality time together in the afternoon. That's my motherly instinct speaking.

"I am happier, my daughter is happier and my husband says, If you are happy, I am happy too'."

Despite the obvious benefits that flexible working can offer a family, small business leaders have resisted the expansion of parents' rights.

More than 90% of requests for the package are honoured, and concerns have been raised that increasing the number of those entitled to request for a change in their working hours could lead to a drop in successful applications. Companies can turn down requests on the grounds that it will cost them money or have a negative effect on meeting customer demand, or on quality or performance. With more staff asking to change working patterns, the justification for refusing staff the hours they want could also be greater.

Small businesses are already dealing with the impact of the Agency Workers Directive, which will essentially give temporary staff exactly the same rights as full-time employees after six weeks in the workplace.

Andy Wilcox, Scottish Policy Convener, said: "The announcement today puts small businesses in an impossible position. You can't have an extension of flexible working and at the same time clamp down on the means by which many small businesses cope with it, which is often through temporary workers.

"The current flexible working regime seems to be working, but the Westminster government should be cautious about extending it too far, which could be damaging to small businesses and, as a result, the millions of people they employ.

"Bringing in a whole new set of complicated employment regulations for temporary workers on top of that could make the situation untenable for many small businesses."

The chairman of the Confederation of British Industry said, however, that "firms are up for making this extension work" but that time was required to prepare staff, policies and practices. The CBI has rejected Ms Walsh's proposal that the new terms should be activated in April 2009, and said that industry needed until at least October 2009 to get ready.

Despite the reservations, the government is forging ahead with its consultation on how to introduce the expansion of rights.

With family seen on all political fronts as the cornerstone of society, flexible working could be a long-term solution to sustaining strong and effective families.

Women and Equalities Minister Harriet Harman said yesterday: "Families are the framework of our lives. Parents want both to earn a living and do the best they can in bringing up their children, but need more flexibility at work."