Press Release

Childcare alone not enough to get lone parents back to work

Most out of work lone parents say they are not able to take paid jobs even if they could find affordable childcare. Other pressures keep them at home, according to new research from the independent Policy Studies Institute.

The report, Childcare in the Balance by Reuben Ford, examines whether lone parents really are locked out of the labour market by the lack of affordable childcare. The study found that while just half the out of work lone parents said that the cost or lack of childcare was stopping them going back to work, other things were more important:

• Only five per cent said the cost of childcare was the only serious barrier they faced and just two per cent said the availability of childcare was the sole obstacle to employment
• Six in every seven out of work lone parents who cited problems with childcare reported another problem that needed to be solved first, before it would be possible for them to work.
• The biggest reason given for not seeking work was because their children were too young and needed their mother at home (42%). Nearly one in five (18%) said this was their only reason for not working.
• Many recently separated lone mothers were still adjusting to their new situation and felt that going out to work could be more of a threat than an advantage.
• Out of work lone parents had a lack of confidence in their own skills and in their ability to compete in the labour market. This problem increased the longer they had been out of work.
• Lone parents felt that few suitable jobs were available to them and some reported that employers discriminated against them

The study was based on a national survey of 850 lone parents and in-depth follow-up interviews with 57 lone mothers. It compared the relative importance of the many barriers to work facing lone parents. Among the third of lone parents who had become so only recently, several needed time to get used to their new circumstances. Marie, a divorced mother of three, said

"I think that's the worst of it. It does take a long time to get used to being on your own and being able to cope with children on your own."

Women who were strongly motivated towards work remained so throughout their marriage, parenthood and lone parenthood. Others who had preferred to remain at home with their children before becoming a lone parent, found it harder to see themselves in a new role, bringing home a wage but spending less time with their children. They doubted whether the advantages of work outweighed the quality of the childcare they could themselves give to their children. Lone parents were also deterred from work by their own lack of confidence, and what they saw as discrimination against them by employers. Sally, a separated mother of two, said:

"I hadn't got the confidence. I hadn't worked for seven years and these were all new skills. I was going into a totally new environment. I'd never been in an office before. I didn't know what they were like."

Others said they had been turned down by employers wary of taking on staff without partners to share caring responsibilities. Dr. Ford concludes that lone parents are faced with a difficult balancing act between the demands of the labour market and the supply of affordable childcare: they have to assess the skills demanded by a prospective employer, how much they will be paid and the needs of their children who are already coping with the strain of separation.

"Every time a lone mother thinks about returning to work, she has to consider whether the job will earn enough to compensate for the costs of childcare and whether it will still enable her to spend quality time with her children to compensate for the hours she will have to spend away from home" he said. "We must accept that some lone mothers will choose not to work despite the severe hardship they may experience or the incentives to work we can provide."

The research was funded by the Department of Social Security. Other key findings:

1. Two thirds of working lone parents use childcare. Of those who use childcare, 42 per cent pay for it, on average one-fifth of their after tax earnings.
2. Of those out of work lone parents who say they would need childcare if they were to enter work, two thirds expect to pay for it
3. Most lone parents had heard of Family Credit, but fewer (55%) had heard of the childcare allowance. Those who did know about it found it difficult to understand.