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Flexible working hours should be available to all employees, children's minister Beverley Hughes has said.

Current employment legislation only allows parents with very young or disabled children to apply for flexible working with the vast majority of requests being met by employers.

Ms Hughes makes the call to employers in a new book of essays published by the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) to mark ten years since the record Labour landslide election victory of 1997.

The 58-year-old minister stressed the need for flexible working terms to become more widespread, saying: "Everyone has a life outside work, not just parents."

"We must redefine the 'ideal worker' and accept it is a fantasy to expect people to have none other than work commitments. Indeed, many people make valuable contributions to their communities in their non-work time," she added.

Arguing that many of the UK's 29 million employees feel "time-squeezed", Ms Hughes writes: "With more women at work, an ageing population and many people aspiring to volunteer or to further develop their skills, government and employers need to recognise that balancing work and life is an issue that's not going away."

However the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) says the call by Ms Hughes must be "fully reviewed" if flexible working is to be expanded.

The CBI's director of HR policy, Susan Anderson, said: "Only by having a gradual and phased extension can we avoid firms being deluged under a sudden increase in requests."