Almost half (49%) of business managers confess age and gender does have a bearing on their decision to recruit someone and 81% say they would ask female job applicants if they plan to have children, if the law permitted.

According to a report from recruitment website HireScores, 92% would hire a married man in preference to a pregnant women although no one said they would give this as an explanation. And 89% said they rarely take male applicants' commitments at home into consideration when recruiting.

Lisette Howlett, managing director of HireScores, said: "This topic raises some very difficult issues and although employment laws clearly state an employer cannot discriminate against a pregnant woman or a single mother, managers from small companies in particular are undoubtedly nervous about the added cost of funding maternity cover or dealing with quick dashes out of the office to see a sick child.

"But managers who openly question women about their home life need to be extremely careful and ideally reconsider their interviewing strategy."