In My View - Providers and parents
Sarah Jackson, chief executive, Working Families
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
One of the biggest changes in the world of work has been the increase in women combining having a family and having a job. It is estimated that in the UK, two out of three families have both parents working, usually one full-time and the other part-time.
Flexible work arrangements aren't confined to just couples, or just part time-work. There has been a huge increase in people working flexibly, supported by new laws. In the vast majority of cases, the reason for flexible working is that people also have childcare responsibilities.
How people combine work and childcare is one of the key issues we see here at Working Families. I am never less than amazed at the resourcefulness and inventiveness of some of the complex arrangements that families put in place. But there is a gap, something we hear about time and again from parents: where is the flexible childcare provision? They are looking for nursery and daycare provision that can be matched to their flexible hours, and which is flexible itself.
For childcare providers, the logistics and costs of providing flexible childcare can seem daunting. But without ignoring the very real factors, I do think that by deploying flexible working within a nursery to the staff there, it is possible to begin trying to match the work patterns of staff with the flexible needs of families.
The benefits for the nursery include offering a service we know parents want, and other businesses have found that offering flexible working suddenly opens up a pool of potential new employees - often skilled and experienced, but who don't want to work full-time.
Providing childcare is a complex business. So is finding the right provider for many parents. Through some aligning of the needs of both sides, I believe it is possible to find a win-win solution where both nurseries and parents benefit.
