Labour’s childcare plans to support 750,000 more women to work or expand their working hours

Monday, 10 June 2024 11:00

Labour's transformative package of childcare and employment support will support 750,000 women to work or expand their hours, the Party has said. Figures consistently show that women's careers are much more likely to be affected by childcare responsibilities than men, with research showing that among parents of children aged 2, women are almost 10 times as likely to economically inactive. The impacts of this are significant, with women in their thirties...Request free trial

Labour's transformative package of childcare and employment support will support 750,000 women to work or expand their hours, the Party has said.

Figures consistently show that women's careers are much more likely to be affected by childcare responsibilities than men, with research showing that among parents of children aged 2, women are almost 10 times as likely to economically inactive.

The impacts of this are significant, with women in their thirties are now £4,000 worse off than they were in 2010, and the gender pay gap for this age group widening once again.

Labour's Shadow Secretary of State for Education Bridget Phillipson has today pledged that tackling this problem will be an ‘absolute priority', as new analysis shows the Party's plans could support 750,000 women with young children who would like to re-enter the world of work or increase their hours, to do so.

Labour has committed to ensuring that parents get the free childcare that they're entitled to through delivering more than 3,000 nurseries and wraparound care in the form of free primary school breakfast clubs.

This comes alongside Labour's transformative plan to Make Work Pay supporting working parents with parental leave and flexible working as a day-one right.

Bridget Phillipson, Labour's Shadow Education Secretary, said:

“Labour's childcare expansion could empower thousands more women, who want to get back to work or extend their hours, to take that step. Women are worse off than they've been in years and can't get the childcare hours that they were promised by the Tories.

“Labour will create thousands of nurseries across the country to ensure parents can access the childcare they're entitled to and make work pay for mums.

“Labour will roll up our sleeves to deliver for parents, improve children's life choices and rebuild Britain.

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Notes

“Women's careers are much more likely to be affected by by childcare responsibilities”https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/familiesandthelabourmarketengland/2021

750,000 women is based on the Department for Education's Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents. This survey finds that of mothers with children aged 0 – 4 (approx. 2.6 million women):

32% or an estimated 849,491 women are working part-time,
27% or an estimated 716,758 women are not working,

Among these groups:

54% of non-working mothers said that if they could arrange good quality childcare that was convenient, reliable and affordable, they would prefer to go out to work;
Among mothers working part-time, 45% would look to increase their working hours.

Source: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/childcare-and-early-years-survey-of-parents

Number of women with children age 0 – 4 from Parents living with dependent children in the UK by economic activity and by single year of age of youngest dependent child: Table T - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)