A new survey for the Family Friendly Working website shows that talented mums and dads are leaving the world of employment, increasingly choosing to create their own ideal jobs by starting a business.

The survey suggests that Britain's bosses are missing out on skilled employees due to a combination of the lack of flexible hours and the cost of childcare. And the parents who are leaving are continuing to develop their skills too, both with the family, by retraining, and in their own businesses.

The top talents parents say they've developed are multitasking (68.4%) and time management (65.3%). But more than half (55.3%) of the parents who responded to the survey say they've developed promotion and marketing skills and almost as many (45.3%) claim to have increased their communication skills.

Mums and Dads are getting better at managing money too, with 39.2%) saying that they have developed their financial management skills after leaving work. A similar number (37.6%) have improved project planning skills since quitting employment.

Parents' people skills are getting a great workout too. Three in ten (30.7%) parents claim to have developed better conflict management skills, and one in five (20%) have better team management skills since leaving paid employment.

Director of Family Friendly Working Antonia Chitty says, "I know that I've developed my skills since leaving employment and it looks like I'm not alone. Britain's' bosses need to think hard about offering more flexible work opportunities in order to make the most of talented parents."

Parents completing the survey have commented on their post-employment experiences:

"I have learnt a lot since then! More importantly I have learnt a lot about myself, maintaining a positive mental attitude, social networking, enterprise and more."

"I ended up returning to education and finally getting the degree I always wanted."

"Starting my business has meant my time management has to be good so that my children get the best of me and I still have time to put into work."

"In 2006 I published my first book, with a five-month-old baby and two older kids. Truly a new start for me."

"I retrained as reflexologist so had a complete career change. I had to learn about running my own business and marketing myself."