According to the Treasury, mothers who stay at home to look after their children do not need as much financial help as those who work.
The claim was inadvertently published on Tuesday as part of a briefing on the Government's new childcare plans. It fuelled accusations that the scheme will deliberately discriminate against traditional single-earner families in an attempt to force more mothers back to work.
Critics described the new policy as a 'slap in the face for two million stay-at-home mothers'.
Lynne Burnham, secretary of Mothers at Home Matter says full-time mothers are hard-working and should be given child care tax breaks too, but full-time businesswoman Katie Hopkins says tax payers should not have to fund stay at home parents.