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Lone Parents and Employment - Action Facts

Gingerbread is an organisation for lone parents and their children. We know that many lone parents want to find paid employment, at least part time. We also know the difficulties they encounter in making work pay and in ensuring that they can balance paid work with caring for their children.

The Government introduced the New Deal For Lone Parents to offer assistance to those lone parents considering returning to work. This Action Facts looks at the needs of lone parents in relation to work. We quote from their letters and from case studies from our Advice Line. We look at policy initiatives already announced which will support the New Deal For Lone Parents and what further policies are needed to ensure they successfully combine caring and paid employment.

Employment as a route out of poverty and isolation.

In 1995 there were 1.7 million lone parents. (i) Nearly a quarter of children live with one parent. At least one third, perhaps as many as a half, of the next generation of children will spend some time in a lone parent family before leaving dependency. (ii)

Increasingly, childhood poverty has become associated with being in a lone parent family. In 1968, 19% of children living in poverty were in lone parent families. Now that figure is 43%. 34% of children living in poverty in 1995-6 were in workless lone parent families compared with 15% in 1968. Lone parent families have not participated in the improvement in living standards experienced by the majority of the families over the last 20 or 30 years. (iii)

Most lone parents have net incomes that range between £90 a week on Income Support (IS) to twice that figure for those in work. Two thirds live on IS and of those a third experience severe hardship. (iv)They have overtaken pensioners as the group with the lowest average income. (v) They have good financial reasons to work as soon as they consider it practical or desirable.

Lone parents give many non-financial reasons for wanting to work including: getting to meet people, using past experience, following a career, status, self respect/self fulfilment, planning for the future, having something to offer, learning new skills, breaking the cycle of disadvantage and providing a positive role model for children.

Gingerbread Action Plan.

Lone parents need:

How can more lone parents, who want to work, be helped into work?

Of every 10 lone parents, 3 work at least 16 hours a week, three are ready to seek work, three will seek work one day but not yet and one believes she would never work, mostly for health reasons.(vi)

Lone parents say that it would be easier for them to work if they had: previous experience, qualifications, more skills, help with childcare, ability to drive, financial help, improved health, and an increase in jobs available.(vii)

A good job which pays well and job satisfaction, in order to provide my child with a good role model. Lone mother, Haringey.

Caring for children.

Lone parents single out their relationship with their children as the most important concern.(viii)

I hope I will find a vocation which doesn't disrupt my life with my daughter. Diane.

Many lone parents believe that they should be full time parents and stay at home when their children are very young or in the immediate aftermath of bereavement or separation from a partner, when there are many practical and emotional issues to address. More look for paid work as their children get older. Their judgement has to be respected.

Lone parents should retain the right to choose when and whether to work.

Good childcare and more companies to offer it. How could I do a good job for anyone knowing my kids are at risk. School holiday care too is vital. It is very hard to work and care properly for three children and myself. Days are too short. I don't even have time for myself to recuperate. I want and need time with my kids. Shareen.

Those who want to return to paid employment prioritise reliability and affordability of childcare. This is vital not only to enable lone parents to return to work. High quality childcare is good for children.

Currently there is one registered place for every nine children under eight. The situation is worse in rural and disadvantaged areas. In one Single Regeneration Budget area, there was only one place per 27 children. There are only 240 'not for profit' day nurseries out of 6000 in England. Typically childcare costs £6000 for a family with two children, more than is spent on food or housing. The quality of provision is quite patchy.(ix)

The National Childcare Strategy aims to provide more childcare for lower and middle income families. Regulation and training should improve quality. Sure Start is a programme to develop services and support for families with children under four in disadvantaged communities. The New Opportunities Fund provides funds for new childcare places for children aged 3-16. The £41 million announced for new nursery education places for three year olds also initially targets the 50 most disadvantaged areas.

The Childcare Tax Credit within the Working Families Tax Credit will be introduced in October. The Treasury estimates that it will benefit 1.5 million families. It will meet 70% of registered childcare costs to a maximum of £100 for one child and £150 for two or more children under the age of 14. A high profile and ongoing campaign will be needed to promote take-up of the Childcare Tax Credit. The distribution of places to lone parents and other previously excluded groups must be monitored. There should be continuing consultation with children and parents.

Abiola worked shifts for one of the forces. She has a 19 month-old daughter. Her sister has been living with her to look after her daughter. But now her sister finds it too much and wants to work herself. Childcare for unsocial hours is hard to find.

There is a need for a wide range of childcare both part time and full time. Alongside kids clubs, nurseries, after school and holiday provision, there have to be childminding schemes so that children can be cared for in the most appropriate setting for their needs.

More Family Friendly Employment.

Make sure that working schedules are betterÖ.I need regular hours and more flexibility, sickness pay for parents who need to take time off to look after a sick child and employers to understand this and not to penalise you for taking time off. Joyce.

Lone parents have to combine the role of provider and carer to their children. Family friendly employment is needed with convenient hours, more term time working, hours which coincide with school hours, flexitime. This can reduce childcare costs and enable the parent to spend more time with children or allow children more freedom to pursue their own activities. Although there has been a growth in casualisation and flexibility determined by employers, lone parents value job security and predictability of hours in order to organise childcare, children's activities and plan their finances.

Teaching will often have a one term contract which lasts for 13 weeks. If you come off income support to take posts like this and it is not extended or made permanent, then you have to make a new claim for income support thus losing mortgage eligibility, lone parent premium etc. If you take sessional work/ supply teaching where weekly hours can't be guaranteed you cannot claim Family Credit. In effect you have to make a new claim for IS every time you work and earn more than £15. I want to work but I'm terrified that after my years (4 yrs B. Ed. (Hons) with QTS) of hard work, I would have to take a job and then go back onto IS going into arrears on my mortgage. Jane.

Claudia is a lone parent with 3 children. She has worked as a college lecturer but the college has been 'restructured' and everyone has been forced to work longer hours. She cannot do this because the childcare costs and other practical difficulties would make it unfeasible. So she is taking voluntary redundancy.

73% of parents of pre-school children and 53% of parents with 5-10 year olds think that being able to take time off is very important or essential. (x) The government has recently proposed a statutory right to time off for domestic emergencies and three months parental leave. However, because this is unpaid, lone parents will have difficulty using this right. Many will be doubly penalised, losing income from already low wages but possibly still having to pay for childcare. Paid parental leave should be available to claimants of WFTC.

Two examples from the New Deal For Lone Parents.

Once I started work I realised there were extra costs. Travelling cost me £6 per week and uniform and clothes cost me approximately £10 a week. My hours included Saturday work. As I could not find a registered childminder willing to work this day, the cost of the childcare could not be disregarded.

My son was unwell on several occasions. I had to take time off. I still had to pay the childminder even though I earned nothing.

Although I had been told this was a permanent position, at the end of the temporary contract I had been given, my employers told me they would not keep me on as they did not want any more people with children working for them. Ruth.

I phoned and went for an interview with my New Deal Personal Adviser... I found a part time job but it was no good - it would not have been worth working. My adviser supported me to carry on and gave me a list of other new jobs. I had an interview and spoke to my adviser about childcare. She helped sort out forms for Family Credit and Council Tax. Now I have a job I love, happy children with pocket money and a childminder who is a friend. Yvette.

Income - will they be better off in work?

90% of lone parents are women. They share the disadvantages of women workers in being concentrated in low paid jobs. The service sector is the most common, with 28% in clerical and secretarial, 21% in retail and catering.(xi)

The National Minimum Wage has now been introduced and should ensure that more of income comes from a solid base of wages. To prevent those relying on it falling further behind, the National Minimum Wage should be increased annually.

The Working Families Tax Credit will replace Family Credit from October 1999 and should guarantee a higher income from work.

It includes:

A basic tax credit of £52.30

30 Hour credit of £11.05

A tax credit for each child according to age, ranging from £19.85 to £25.95 per child

The childcare tax credit.

WFTC is reduced by 55p for each £1 of income above £90.

The £15 maintenance disregard on Family Credit did assist more lone parents in making work pay. With the introduction of the Working Families Tax Credit on October 5 1999, lone parents in work will be treated as private clients of the Child Support Agency. Their co-operation with the CSA will be on a voluntary basis. They will not have to pay fees and will be able to keep all the maintenance they receive.

Although more jobs are available, many lone parents are still affected by living in unemployment blackspots. Policies to create and retain jobs are important.

I am a lone parent but am very positive about going into work. I have failed to find a job and this is frustrating me. It's not the childcare that's a problem, it's finding a job. Jean.

Achieving the transition.

From October 1999 there will be a roll on of IS for two weeks after a claimant starts work. This will be some reassurance and help with day to day running costs until their first pay day. It would be better if it were rolled on for 4 weeks to bridge the gap completely.

Lone parents participating in the New Deal for Lone Parents will also be eligible for a Jobfinder's Grant of £200 irrespective of duration of unemployment or benefit claimed. The job must be expected to last at least 6 months, be for 16 hours or more per week and must pay £200 or less before stoppages.

However, this does not overcome the problem of having to pay up front for childcare or clothes. From April 30 1999, lone parents who have been on Income Support for a minimum of 26 weeks may be able to obtain a budgeting loan from the Social Fund for expenses associated with seeking or returning to work.

Education and training.

The Way Ahead - towards 2000, published by the Employment Service, identifies a key social development as,

The threat of growing inequality - the risk that globalisation, uneven access to new technologies, and social changes could widen the skills gap between the successful and least skilled.

Jobs lone parents find are often low paid and trap them on in work benefits. Many parents who have been out of the workforce caring for children need to update skills.

Research has found little evidence of 'welfare dependency' amongst lone parents but there is a significant link between training and movement into work. (xii) 71% of those in continuous employment had been on a training course compared with 26% of those who were out of work.

Half of lone parents had undergone a programme of work training but only a third had completed one. Cost was cited as a difficulty. In one survey, 60% of jobs lone parents were offered had no promotion prospects. 20% of those in work wanted to change jobs. 73% of these thought they would need further training. (xiv)

There should be more customised training for lone parents. Training in the NDLP should be available to NVQ3.

The government should give lone parents a chance to train for a job of their choice or to upgrade skills but not force them to take just any work. Grace.

I hope for a chance to work in a nursery and get a day off for study. After that I can only go up in life. I just need that one chance. Natasha.

Only 1 in 10 lone mothers held any kind of higher academic or professional qualifications.(xv)

Qualifications can determine how well off lone parents will be in work, whether they will be able to rise above in work benefits and be fully independent and especially whether they will be able to maintain a mortgage once they come off IS if they are owner-occupiers.

Equal opportunities cannot be successful if people with different needs and responsibilities are treated as if they were the same. Lone parents are more likely than other students to experience financial hardship and difficulties whilst studying. they are more likely to be in arrears with their household bills and the total amount of their debts were much greater than for other students.(xvi)

I started University last year. If I was working full time I could claim help towards my childcare costs, i.e. one at nursery and two at after school club. But because I am a student, the council will not take into account the £50 a week of my childcare costs. Consequently, I am getting further into debt each term. There is little incentive for me to improve myself and get off income support. I would be better off financially staying on benefits. Jackie.

The cost of university provided childcare varies from £1800 to £5718. Lone parents in some colleges have difficulty in obtaining information and understanding how help is calculated. More good quality, affordable childcare should be provided on campus. The Child Care Tax Credit should be extended to students.

Policy should reflect genuine differences between groups. Treating people as if they are the same when they clearly have different responsibilities and needs will not undermine inequality.

Loans should not count as income for benefit calculations, especially Housing Benefit.

The 12 week linkage on IS claims should be extended to 24 weeks. A higher level of access funds is required. Once ex-student lone parents start paid work, the repayment threshold and/or amounts should take into account lower disposable income caused by being a one earner household and possible continuing childcare costs.

Over half of lone parents are dissatisfied with the general awareness of the needs of students with family responsibilities. (xvii) Course design should build in more flexibility, including part time courses. For a small deposit, lone parents could hire books and other equipment such as computers for the duration of the course.

Health and morale.

17% of lone parents suffer general poor health. There has been an increase in the numbers experiencing long standing or limiting illnesses, which make it difficult to gain or retain work, from 15% in 1991 to 29% in 1995. (xviii)

The Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health draws attention to the damage persistent family and childhood poverty does to health and recommends that 'the welfare to work approach should be accompanied by efforts to redistribute resources in cash or kind to those unable to work and to those families for whom work is not available or appropriate'. (xix)

Although many lone parents want to work, there are many for whom it is not an option at present. It is important to maintain their health and morale and to ensure that they can continue to participate in society whilst they are not in paid work. More programmes are needed like Sure Start which aims to provide additional support to lone parent families who are not in employment.

Lone parents unable to work should have increased financial and service support including access to childcare and other services.

References:

(i) Haskey, 1998 in Private Lives and Public Responses, Ford and Millar (eds.) Policy Studies Institute, 1998.
(ii) Ford and Millar in Private Lives and Public Responses, PSI, 1998.
(iii) Gregg, Harkness and Mackin, Child Development and Family Income, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 1999.
(iv) DSS Research Report 40, Changes in Lone Parenthood, Ford, Marsh and McKay, 1995.
(v) Gregg, Harness and Mackin, 1999.
(vi) DSS Research Report 40.
(vii) DSS Research Report 77, What Happens to Lone Parents, Ford, Marsh and Finlayson, 1997.
(viii) McKendrick in Private Lives and Public Responses, 1998.
(ix) Information from the Day Care Trust.
(x) DSS Research Report 40.
(xi) DSS Research Report 6, Lone Parent Families in the UK, Bradshaw and Millar, 1991.
(xii) DSS research Report 77.
(xiii) Finlayson and Marsh in Private Lives and Public Responses.
(xiv) DSS Research Report 77.
(xv) Making work pay: lone parents, employment and well being, Bryson, Ford and White, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 1997.
(xvi) Callender and Kempson, Student Finances, PSI, 1996.
(xvii) Callender, Full and part time students in higher education: their experiences and expectations, NCIHE, 1997.
(xviii) DSS Research Report 77.
(xix) The Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health Report, Sir Donald Acheson, The Stationery Office, 1998.