B would be correct, Liz,
I see your thinking here, but i think about it like this:
The mother was working before the father, but she also continued working AFTER the father had started working. So, when we look at the time frame, we can still see that the POINT IN TIME that the father started working was before the "mother working period " was finished (if it did finish).
Past Perfect is used when there are 2 past actions to show which is MORE past and in this case the father STARTING work was before the mother's working period.
Sorry for the convoluted answer; does that make it a little clearer, Liz?