Kids birthday parties are pricey. UK parents spend more than £200 on cake, entertainment and party bags each year. Argos has launched a Birthday Club to aid party-stricken parents, offering ideas, tips and 20% off party essentials. Could it become the go-to brand for setting birthdays off with a bang?

More mums are choosing to become their own boss and look after their children at the same time. But does ‘motherism’ – the prejudice that paints ‘non-working’ mums as unsexy slobs – really motivate women to go back to work just to remove the ‘stay-at-home’ label?

Mums are getting excited about flash sales site Zulily, and it’s not hard to see why. Constant discounts, 9,000 new items posted daily and ‘buy-it-now’ emails are selling them everything from yoga pants to fridge organisers, attracting four and a half million customers in five years. Will this success last?

New mums are older than they’ve ever been. They’re also better off. With the 2.4 kids standard fading, are today’s babies being born into a lap of luxury where only the best will do? If so, how can brands align with this quality-not-quantity approach to family life?