Government must prove family friendly credentials

On the eve of the draft Queen's Speech single parent charity One Parent Families|Gingerbread is urging the Government to extend the right to request flexible working to parents of children aged up to 18. 

Gordon Brown is widely expected to use tomorrow's Queen's speech to announce the results of a review of flexible working conducted for the Department of Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform by Sainsbury's director of Human Resources, Imelda Walsh. The Charity is calling for the Prime Minister to go beyond the cautious approach set out by John Hutton and demonstrate his family friendly credentials by extending the right to request flexible working to all parents.

In a survey of non-working lone parents conducted by the charity for Jobcentre Plus, a lack of work at suitable hours was the primary reason cited for not being in employment, with 71% stating this as a problem.

Commenting today, Chief Executive of the charity Fiona Weir said:

"The Government says it wants to see more lone parents in paid work, and from November will be changing the benefit system to put more pressure on them to look for jobs. But lone parents tell us that rigid employment practices often mean that while they want to work they simply cannot find a way to juggle a job with school routines and caring for their kids.    If the Government is serious about helping parents do the best for their children it must ensure that the workplace allows them to do so.   This is the perfect opportunity for Gordon Brown to demonstrate his family friendly credentials by extending the right to request flexible working to all parents."