Stars: they’re just like us! They buy their own groceries, they pump their own gas, and they even cut their maternity leaves short and struggle with work-life balance!

According to CareerBuilder’s annual Mother’s Day survey, one in four (26 percent) working moms who have had a child in the last three years reported they did not take the full maternity leave allowed by their company, and one in ten took two weeks or less.

But while celebrity moms are more likely to take shorter maternity leaves because they need to fly to Germany to film a shampoo commercial, the mothers in CareerBuilder’s survey had arguably less glamorous reasons for doing so: Competitive work environments, demanding positions and financial pressures played key roles in respondents’ decisions to go back to work early.

According to the survey, 39 percent of working moms are the sole financial provider in their household, compared with 43 percent of working dads.  Working dads who are the sole breadwinner were almost twice as likely to earn $50,000 or more and were approximately three times as likely to earn six figures as working moms.  Women were much more likely to earn less than $35,000 compared to men.

How much time do working moms get to spend with their families?
Unsurprisingly, with so much pressure to be in the office, women also reported feeling a struggle to find a healthy balance between work and family life. One in four (25 percent) working moms feel they have to choose between their children and being successful at their jobs, and 24 percent say work obligations caused them to miss significant events in their children’s lives.

When asked how much time they’re able to spend with their children during the work week, half of working moms said they average around four hours of quality time each day, while nearly 30 percent spend two hours.

What can working moms do to find a better work/life balance?
Looking for a way to balance your work and family life, but lacking the help of a live-in nanny, personal assistant and bodyguards? Hope Gurion, Chief Development Officer at CareerBuilder (and mother of two), offers the following tips for working moms to better manage work and family.

• Go in with a game plan – The vast majority of working moms who have taken advantage of flexible work arrangements said it hasn’t negatively impacted their careers, so talk to your supervisor or HR department and explore options. Make sure to come to that conversation with a game plan on how you can manage workload, cover responsibilities, etc.
• Keep an “I’m Fabulous” file – Keep track of all of your accomplishments within the organization, quantifying results whenever possible, and list out the additional responsibilities you have taken on in the last year. It helps you to build your case when negotiating for a better salary or consideration for promotion with your employer.
• Get organized – Structure in your life will save you time, stress and mental energy. Keep one calendar for business and family commitments to avoid double-booking. Set up a schedule for chores, homework, family activities and playtime.
• Remember quality over quantity – Make the most of your personal time. When you’re home, it’s all about them. Wait until after the children go to bed before checking email or finishing up that presentation.
• Schedule “me time” – Working moms need to take care of themselves too. Put actual time on the calendar for an hour or more of doing something you enjoy such as going to the gym, taking a walk, reading, etc.

Tell us: How do you balance work and family life?

You may have a dozen reasons to celebrate Mother’s Day this Sunday, but here’s one you may not have thought of — a tough economy. A recent CareerBuilder survey of 604 women, employed full-time with children 18 and under living in the household, shows that working moms may be feeling more stressed — and less appreciated — in our current economic climate.

Working moms, many of them recently tasked with the responsibility of keeping their families afloat due to unemployed spouses or other financial issues, have had to become more resourceful than ever.

According to survey results:

• Twelve percent of working moms said their spouse or significant other has become unemployed in the last 12 months, with two-thirds (67 percent) indicating that it is causing stress at home.
• Thirty-six percent of working moms said they are the sole provider for their household.
• Nearly one-in-ten (9 percent) have taken on a second job in the last 12 months to provide for their family.

Work/life balance — what’s that again?

As a result, achieving a work/life balance can be a lot of work in itself, as moms are working more hours — which often translates to less time at home with the family:

• Forty-three percent of working moms work more than 40 hours per week.
• More than one-third (34 percent) who take work home reported they typically bring work home three days a week or more.
• Twenty-three percent bring work home on the weekends.
• Nearly one-in-five (18 percent) of working moms said they spend two hours or less with their children each work day.
• Nearly three-in-ten (29 percent) reported they missed two or more significant events in their child’s life due to work in the last year.

So what can working moms do to achieve more balance?

CareerBuilder’s Mary Delaney, a working mother herself, offers other working moms her thoughts and tips:

“The tough economy has taken its toll on family units and working moms are challenged with doing more with less time,” said Mary Delaney, President of Personified, CareerBuilder’s talent consulting division, and mother of three.

“What we’re seeing from these moms is a great deal of resourcefulness and resilience as they provide for their families.  While they may not be able to spend as much time with their children as they would like, working moms are making the most of the time they do have and getting creative in work arrangements.”

Delaney recommends the following tips to help working moms navigate through difficult economic times:

1. Talk to other working moms. Many families are in the same boat as you and having a support network is essential to your personal and professional sanity.  Getting tips from other working moms on how they juggle personal and professional commitments can be a big help.
2. Seek out flexible work arrangements. The vast majority of working moms who have taken advantage of flexible work arrangements said it hasn’t negatively impacted their careers.  In fact, one-in-five (21 percent) said it has actually helped their careers.
3. Have a plan. Structure in your life will save you time, stress and mental energy.  Keep one calendar for business and family commitments to avoid double-booking. Set up a schedule for chores, homework, family activities, playtime, etc.
4. Take advantage of work perks. Companies offer a variety of perks such as wellness benefits, company discounts on entertainment venues, etc.  Talk to your HR department and see what is available to help save money on monthly expenses and fun family outings.
5. Make the most of your family time. When you’re home, it’s all about them.  Wait until after the children go to bed before checking email or finishing up that presentation.
6. Schedule some “me time.” Working moms need to take care of themselves too.  Put actual time on the calendar for an hour or more of doing something you enjoy such as going to the gym, taking a walk, reading, etc.

Working moms (or dads) — any tips to add that have helped your family get things back in order?