Chapter 3: Create fair employment and work for all

Employment rates have increased for mothers over time. These rates are now higher for mothers than they are for either women or men without dependent children. However, there are still considerably fewer mothers working (75.6%) compared to fathers (92.1%).
(ONS. (2022). Families and the labour market, UK: 2021.)

Nearly seven in 10 (68.5%) of single parents are employed, with over half being employed full-time (51.8%) and under half being part-time (48.2%). So three in 10 (31.5%) lone parent families are not employed and we know that single parents are more likely to be mothers.
(ONS. (2022). Families and the labour market, UK: 2021.)

Single mothers are less likely to be in employment compared with males. Overall, 67.1% of single mothers are employed compared with 80.1% of fathers. This is likely to be because much of the care for the child(ren) is provided by the lone mother.
(ONS. (2022). Families and the labour market, UK: 2021.)

For babies up to one years of age, their mother is most likely to be on maternity leave. Only half of mothers are working as the child reaches two years of age. As the child is aged two to eight years, mothers are more likely to work part time. By the time children reach 16 to 18 years of age, 77.7% of mothers are working.
(ONS. (2022). Families and the labour market, UK: 2021.)

The North East has more lone parent families with dependent children compared with England (124 per 1,000 families compared with 97 per 1,000).
The North East has more lone mother families with dependent children than lone father families (146 per 1,000 families compared with 24 per 1,000).
The North East has more lone mother families with dependent children compared with England (146 per 1,000 families compared with 121 per 1,000).
(ONS. (2022). People in families by family type and presence of children, regions of England and UK constituent countries. 2015 to 2021 edition)
(ONS. (2022). Families and Households in the UK: 2021.)

The impact for single parents is both economic and health-related. Single parents are less likely than parents in 'couple families' to report that they have good general health, and are more likely to report poorer mental health. Changes in the amount and security of money flowing into households that are struggling could have profound impact on a large part of our population and this will particularly impact on single mothers. There is an upward trend in part-time gender pay gap, which has been continuing since 2015. This is because women fill more part-time jobs, which in comparison with full-time jobs have lower hourly average pay.

Age is also a factor in the gender pay gap. For under 40 years, the gender pay gap for full time employees is low, at 3.2% or below. However, when women reach age 40 and above, lower numbers of women progress into higher paid roles. In contrast, men take up the majority of these senior roles with greater pay. As such, the pay gap widens.
(Office for National Statistics. (2022). Gender pay gap in the UK: 2021)

Employers can promote gender equality in the workplace by being transparent about wages, to ensure women aren't receiving less than men in equivalent roles, especially because women are less likely to negotiate their salary.