ALMOST a quarter of job hunters in the North-East keep the fact they have children secret from potential employers, according to a new survey.

Research conducted among employees, working in areas ranging from marketing and management to factories and stores, found 23 per cent would not mention children on their CV.

Many parents, particularly women, feared employers would consider them unreliable.

However, hardly any of the employers questioned in a second survey by recruitment agency Pertemps claimed they would be put off by female applicants with children.

Another detail likely to be omitted from a CV was age, with 15 per cent of staff saying they would not include it.

However, fears about age discrimination may be misplaced - only two per cent of employers said they would dismiss a CV because the person was the wrong age.