Family cause of daily stress

Blake Morgan, which has its headquarters in Portsmouth, conducted the research to understand the pressures faced by business owners.

It found that demands to balance work and home life as well as caring for dependants is an increasingly difficult issue.

While 35 per cent said their greatest cause of daily stress was looking after family, 18 per cent of 35-44-year olds are also grappling with the need to care for ill parents.

Helen Bunker, director for private law at Blake Morgan, said: '˜While it may not be a surprise to find that 35 per cent of business owners said their greatest source of stress was providing for their family, we were surprised to see that one in five under the age of 35 are faced with looking after an ill parent.'