EUKN - United Kingdom - Balancing work and family life: enhancing choice and support for parents

Balancing work and family life: enhancing choice and support for parents

Introduction

Describes the social, economic, and business factors that mean flexible working is now a key issue in helping parents to balance work and family life.

Description

This report:

identifies the three key drivers for change in working patterns: the way families organise their work, a dramatic increase in the proportion of employees with caring responsibilities, and the combination of a competitive business environment and the current labour market context;
focuses on measures being introduced which represent a change in both choice and support for parents, and will benefit employers, employees and their children.
highlights reform of the ways in which the tax and benefit system supports families with children on low incomes;
proposes more choice and support for parents to help them balance work and caring for their children; and
encourages business to adopt best practice and offer work-life balance opportunities across the workforce.

Background information

A recognition that helping parents to balance their work and family commitments is central to the UK government’s commitment to halve child poverty by 2010 and eliminate it within a generation. Often the challenge of organising caring responsibilities and paid employment is a source of stress. Similarly when unemployment is low, business needs to retain the skills of those with caring responsibilities.

Methodology

Literature reviews were undertaken to identify the key social, economic and business drivers for supporting flexible working and to set out the benefits of helping parents to balance work and family life. An action plan was developed and key measures introduced.

Conclusions

Because of the trend towards both parents working in a family and the growth of lone parent families, support is needed both from government and from business to allow for flexible working. The benefits are seen to be threefold:

an improvement to the conditions in which children grow up;
greater equality between women and men; and
increased productivity in the workplace.

Consequently the UK government introduced key measures in April 2003, including:

changes to maternity, paternity and adoption pay;
the introduction of Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit,
the simplification for business of maternity rights;
the right for parents of young or disabled children to apply to work flexibly; and
an extension to the childcare element of the Working Tax Credit.

Contact info

Her Majesty's Treasury
public.enquiries@hm-treasury.gov.uk

Publication date

01/01/2003

Project finished

Researcher

Her Majesty's Treasury and the Department for Trade and Industry

Cities

Throughout the UK, both urban and rural areas

Links

Her Majesty's Treasury Department for Trade and Industry

Balancing work and family life: enhancing choice and support for parents (PDF, Eng, 610 KB)

Document type

research

Themes

Urban Policy > Economy knowledge & employment > Working patterns

Keywords

Flexible working