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Charity urges Prime Minister to do more to help working parents

Families Policy & Politics Research
A charity has written to the Prime Minister calling for him to do more to improve the lives of the UK’s 12 million working parents, including boosting early years funding.
Working Families has written to the PM with a list of policy areas where it believes change is needed, PHOTO: Adobe Stock
Working Families has written to the PM with a list of policy areas where it believes change is needed, PHOTO: Adobe Stock

Within the letter, Working Families, supported by members of its Academic Advisory Board – a group of experts from universities across the UK on issues relating to flexible working – argues that Spring Budget was a ‘missed opportunity’ to make the positive changes needed to help families.

It goes on to highlight the ‘key’ policy areas where it believes the Government need to make changes, they are:

  • Addressing the shortfall in childcare funding.
  • Prioritising the ‘plight’ of working parents by protecting those on universal credit and legacy benefits.
  • Bringing forward the implementation of neonatal leave and pay provisions.
  • Addressing the inequalities affecting new mothers on universal credit (UC) who are also receiving maternity allowance (MA) rather than statutory maternity pay (SMP). MA is treated as unearned income therefore impacting UC, while SMP is treated as earnings so some, or all of it, may be disregarded when calculating UC entitlement due to the work allowance and taper rate.
  • Reviewing the rates of pay for statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay.

The letter states, ‘The 2023 Working Families Index highlighted the hurdles confronting many parents and carers, especially those with lower incomes, who often face prohibitive childcare costs, lack of access to flexible and secure work, and low levels of pay for new parent leave.

‘In 2022/23, Working Families’ Legal Advice Service provided personalised legal advice to nearly 1,700 parents and carers by email and phone, and nearly 1 million working parents and carers accessed our legal advice pages. These numbers demonstrate the scale of support needed for working parents and carers as they navigate a host of financial uncertainties and barriers to balancing work and caring.’

It concludes, ‘Following the Spring Budget, it’s clear that more can be done to remove the barriers working parents and carers face in their working lives. We urge you to make full use of your Government’s ability to make real change for working parents and carers across the UK by addressing these vital issues.’