870,00 stay at home mothers in England want to work but can't get the childcare they need finds Save The Children research published 16th March 2018. Jessica Chives, CEO, The Talent Keeper Specialists discusses the research on Sky News setting out flexibility in the workplace and men's involvment at home from birth being two key answers beyond more money from Government.
870,000 stay-at-home mums in England who would prefer to work if they could arrange good quality childcare which is convenient, reliable and affordable.
That’s half of all out of work mums in the country.
The figures, which are based on new analysis of the Department for Education’s Childcare and early years survey of parents in England, also show that childcare issues are the number one barrier preventing mums from working.
Save the Children research has previously found that childcare issues are costing mothers in England with children under the age of five £3.4 million in lost earnings each day. Recent evidence has shown that childcare costs are rising at twice the rate of inflation.
At the same time, almost half of parents say they have no idea or are confused about what childcare support they should even be getting.
In the North East, two thirds of all out of work mums would prefer to work if they could get the childcare they need – the highest proportion in England, followed by 56% in the West Midlands and 53% in the North West.