32% of mums have re-evaluated their lives due to furlough

Nearly a third of working mums [32%] who have been furloughed during the pandemic have re-evaluated their lives as a result, according to a workingmums.co.uk survey.

The survey of 1,300 mums, conducted in June/July as employers were asked to contribute towards it, found just over one in five mums were furloughed at some point during the pandemic – mostly during the first lockdown only [48%].

Twenty two per cent have been furloughed throughout and 21% have been furloughed on several occasions and brought back. Nine per cent were only furloughed in the second lockdown. Twenty-eight per cent had used flexible furlough, where you come back in on reduced hours with furlough making up the other hours.

Just sixty-one per cent had their furlough pay topped up by their employer. Furlough is paid at 80% of wages with employers able to top up the remaining 20%. Forty eight per cent said they were more anxious about their job security as a result of being on furlough, while 37% were more worried about their finances.

The survey shows generally that 21% of working mums have gone into debt due to Covid and 5% have used food banks.

Of those who asked to be furloughed due to childcare issues, 53% were refused by their employer.

Gillian Nissim, founder of WM People, the umbrella company for workingmums.co.uk, workingdads.co.uk and workingwise.co.uk, said: “As the furlough scheme comes to an end, it is vital that we study the longer term impact of it. Clearly, the scheme has saved many jobs, but the survey shows it will have many other longer term impacts, some positive as people re-evaluate their lives and some, for instance, confidence issues, less positive. It also shows that it is important for employers to manage the transition back from long breaks with care.”

*Workingmums.co.uk has produced a toolkit for transitioning back into the workplace after a break.

• Vote  
• 0
• 0
• You already voted!