Single parents to get more help back into work

Single parents desperately trying to get off of benefits and move into work will soon be getting extra support.

Though there are plenty of initiatives already in place to help parents get back into work, trying to find jobs fitting in around school hours, or at a location within a reasonable distance to the school can be difficult.

Many recent surveys have already found that more affluent parents who are not single are already shunning the job market and setting up in business.

This is because of employers that are not sympathetic to family commitment and simply do not offer flexible working time around school hours.

Many jobs that do suit the hours often leave parents financially worse off than not going back to work.

Now, single parents with children aged from three to six years of age in South London, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and Tees Valley will be the first to try out a new scheme allowing them to keep £50 of their wages before losing benefits they get, if they work less than 16 hours a week.

The new plans will mean lone parents will have to accept help back into work, but only during the time their child is at school or in nursery.

This may prove to be a tricky task as some nurseries only offer half day sessions lasting as little as two and a half hours a day.

The help will also start preparing them to go back to work with training skills, work experience and helping them with CVs and job hunting.

Despite the myth that lone parents pump out children to avoid going back to work, the latest Household Labour Force Survey in 2009 found that around 80 per cent of all lone parents and 70 per cent of lone parents with a child younger than seven years old are either working or actually want to work.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Yvette Cooper said: “Helping parents into jobs so they can support their families is the best way to lift children out of poverty. We know that around 80 per cent of lone parents are already working or would like to work. We want to help them do that in a way that also supports their family life.

“We are giving parents more support to get ready to go back to work while their children are at nursery school, but in return we do expect people to take up this extra help on offer.”