Lone parents need more than childcare

Many lone parents are not ready to go back to work despite having increased access to wrap-around care through the ex- tended schools initiative, findings from a pilot study have shown. Local authorities involved in the Government-funded Childcare Taster Pilot (CTP) and Extended Schools Childcare Pilot Programmes (ESCP) have found that childcare is potentially the 'last barrier of a row of hurdles that lone parents have to cross on their way from income support to full-time work'.