 News
30th October 2006
Traditional families getting a raw deal
Traditional two-parent families are getting a raw deal from the state,
according to a new report.
The Government commissioned report found that while single
parents receive help with finding work and childcare, couples with children
are being virtually ignored because it's assumed their lives are easier.
And in an interview with BBC1's Sunday AM, Work and Pensions
Secretary John Hutton unveiled plans to extend childcare places so that
more mothers can go out and work.
The report found that in many two parent families, one adult
- usually the mother - stays at home whilst the other works.
Mr Hutton said that two parent families struggling to make
ends meet should also be entitled to help from the State, adding that
there should be "more help, for example, getting the second adult
in a household into work."
He said that the best way out of poverty was work and that
increasing childcare places would help facilitate that.
"By 2009/10 we will have universal childcare available for
every three to four year-old," he said.
"Now, that is going to open up a world of employment opportunities,
mainly again for women but for parents generally.
"I think we've got to develop an approach which first of
all makes the opportunity to work our priority. That is the best way out
of poverty."
According to recent Government figures, 56 per cent of women
with young children under the age of five work either full or part time.
The Office for National Statistic's Focus on Gender report
showed that 68 per cent of women with children go out to work, meaning
that the majority of women with children are relying on nannies, nurseries
and childminders to look after them.
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