IWD 2017 & the Budget: extra part-time jobs for working mums?
It was International Women’s Day on 8th March 2017 and it was also UK Budget Day. In timely fashion, the chancellor had a lot to say that will affect working women. We just hope this will have a positive impact on the number of professional part-time jobs for working mums.
Firstly, the chancellor announced an additional £5 million towards returnships and helping people back into work after a career break. As we know, this group is largely female as it’s often women who take on full-time caring duties after starting a family or for an ageing family member.
The chancellor said the funding will go into industries where women are underrepresented with the hope of boosting the number of women in management positions – and ultimately closing the gender pay gap.
Secondly, working parents with 3-4 year olds will get their free childcare entitlement doubled to 30 hours a week. There is some uncertainty about how local councils will fulfil this come September – read more here.
And thirdly, National Insurance contributions for the self-employed will increase to 11% by April 2019. As we know, many low paid workers are self-employed or ‘gig’ workers who may be affected by this – with many part-time and freelance contractors who we know, being working mums.
Positive news for working parents?
What does this all mean? Well, the outlook for working parents is positive. Greater childcare options can only bring more flexibility – hopefully leading to more employers offering professional part-time jobs for working mums.
As we’ve seen, the more women in work, the greater the economy stands to benefit. It’s thought that the UK is missing out on up to £170bn by not having enough women in employment. So we’re delighted to see moves in the right direction – let’s hope it results in more professional part-time jobs for working mums.
If you’d like to make a return to work after having children or for other reasons, or work more flexibly, please get in touch. Our professional part-time staffing agency is here to help. We’ve been matching professional people with flexible local career jobs for the past ten years. Get in touch via our website if you’d like to register to start your flexible career hunt today.
