Lack of childcare preventing single parents from working
30-03-2007
The government's initiative to get single parents back into work will be unsuccessful if there are not dramatic improvements in childcare provision.
Working Links, an organisation aimed at helping people return to work, has suggested that many lone parents are struggling to find jobs because they do not have adequate childcare, personneltoday.com reports.
Under the government's new Deal for Lone Parents back-to-work scheme, single parents will be given help to find employment once their child is 12 years old, rather than the previous age of 16.
To aid the scheme the government is planning to make a child care place available for every child aged between three and 14 on every weekday as of 2010 but Working Links are still voicing concerns.
A spokesman for Working Links told Personneltoday: "Any increased compulsion for lone parents to return to work must be accompanied by the provision of sufficient quality childcare.
"We know that many lone parents cite the lack of affordable and reliable childcare as a barrier to them entering the workplace. It is therefore crucial that this is addressed before lone parents are required to return to work at an earlier stage."
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