Gingerbread calls for action on barriers to single parents’ career progression

Single parents are being unfairly blocked from career progression by factors outside of their control, including a lack of affordable childcare and having to work part time, according to a new report from Gingerbread.

Gingerbread’s report, Held Back: single parents and in-work progression in London, highlights a number of barriers that are preventing single parents from progressing in their jobs.

The five interconnected barriers preventing single parents from progressing in their jobs and meaning 49% face financial hardship are:

• Working part time and the lack of well paid senior part-time roles
• Lack of affordable childcare – 41% of single parents struggle to afford childcare – compared with 14% of parents in couples.  A lack of affordable childcare prevents many single parents from seeking better paid roles and blocks in-work progression
• Lack of flexibility – A lack of flexibility forces many single parents to work fixed hours in order to balance work and childcare commitments.  Single parents in London, in particular, often have to factor in the additional constraint of commuting, says Gingerbread.  It adds that this lack of flexibility means single parents are not only unable to work additional hours, but they are also blocked from training and the socialising aspect of some jobs – key factors associated with limiting opportunities for progression.
• Time out of the labour market – Being consistently in work helps people to escape low pay, single parents are more likely to have ‘work gaps’.
• Relationship between education and job roles. The report says single parents tend to have fewer educational qualifications than the working-age population as a whole, although many are over-qualified for the work they are currently undertaking.

Laura Dewar, Gingerbread Policy Officer said: “Almost all single parents are in work or want to work but our report shows many are being held back in their careers due to structural barriers which trap them in lower paid jobs.  These blocks mean single parents are missing out on more senior roles and businesses are overlooking an untapped pool of talent.  With some simple, practical changes, the UK economy could really benefit from valuable skills and the lives of many single parent families could be improved.”

Gingerbread is calling on the government to:

• Introduce improved rights for all to support flexible working
• Offer single parents additional childcare support, in particular with a Childcare Deposit Scheme for parents on Universal Credit with pre-school children based on the successful scheme devised by Gingerbread and developed by the Greater London Authority
• Improve provision of support and advice to help single parents to progress in work.

It is also calling on employers to use their appraisal system to encourage single parents within their workforce to consider progression and to offer coaching to build the confidence of single parents, enabling them to progress.

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