Mothers most in need denied flexible working
Flexible working arrangements are not accessible to the parents who need them most, such as lone or low-paid mothers, new research has found.
A survey of 2,000 mothers of children aged 12-18 months by the National Centre for Social Research, presented at a seminar last week, found that single mothers, low paid mothers or those working for companies without trade union recognition were much less likely to have access to part-time work, job sharing, flexible working hours and home working.
The report said, 'A substantial proportion of these mothers did not have access even to arrangements they were legally entitled to, such as the right to request flexible working and to take parental and emergency leave. Efforts to increase awareness and the accessibility of family-friendly arrangements should be targeted at certain types of mothers.'
Fifteen per cent of mothers who returned to work reported a decrease in their earnings, despite not having reduced their working hours. Twenty per cent of mothers said their employer did not provide parental or emergency leave and 22 per cent said their work offered no support with childcare or other support, such as career breaks and retraining.
The study's author, Ivana La Valle, said, 'For the right to request flexible working arrangements you need to have been in the job for a certain amount of time. This discriminates against mothers who have been out of employment and want to re-enter the workplace, but who need flexible working from day one.'
Panellist Fran Bennett of the Oxford Centre for Research into Parenting and Children, said, 'The motherhood penalty is atrocious. The challenge is to open up careers to mothers so they are not confined to working in certain areas.'
Further information:
'Maternity Rights and Mothers' Employment Decisions' is at www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2007-2008/rrep496.pdf.
