(Newswire.net — October 3, 2022) — The UK’s proportion of working mothers recently matched the highest ever recorded. In the three months to June 2022, 75% of UK women with dependent children were in employment, according to Office for National Statistics figures shared in an article on the Workplace Insights website.
However, in this article, Hina Belitz — a specialist employment lawyer at Excello Law — warns that “a rapidly deteriorating economic situation in the UK may be pushing mothers into work and keeping them there through necessity, rather than choice, in order to provide for their families.”
The takeaway here is clear: the historically high number of UK mothers at work is not necessarily a sign that more and more barriers to women’s equality in the workplace have rapidly been demolished. What work-related issues could these parents still face, but also overcome?
Apply for jobs where flexible working is part of the culture
If you are a mother currently looking for work, one factor behind your decision to start doing so could have been the cost of childcare. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) recently found that, in the UK, this cost has grown by over £2,000 during the past decade.
The UK is now the world’s second priciest country on the childcare front. You might therefore have been drawn to the prospect of adopting a flexible working pattern that would let you spend more time with your child.
Alas, more than 40% of mothers in one study have admitted that they would fear being discriminated against if, in a job interview, they brought up the subject of flexible working. So, look out for jobs where flexible working is an openly advertised perk.
Investigate opportunities for streamlining corporate expenses
Given what has just been mentioned about the difficult financial situation potentially hampering many mothers in the here and now, they might already be very familiar with exploring what cost savings could be made in the home.
However, not all of these women might have noticed the potential for them to be similarly diligent in cutting the costs of their work duties, too. Let’s consider the scenario of a mother who is also a business owner, perhaps because this gives her the flexibility her lifestyle needs.
This woman could seriously consider renting one of BE Offices’ serviced offices where Wi-Fi, rates and utilities are all covered in the monthly cost. Opting for this kind of all-in-one workspace can be much more financially efficient than sourcing all of the above work essentials separately.
Encourage men to handle more of the responsibilities at home
“Without men taking on their fair share at home, women are at risk of burning out as they progress their careers, or not progressing because of the cost to family relationships and health,” psychologist Jessica Chivers has told People Management.
She suggests that employers could start “encouraging men to take shared parental leave and proactively talking to them about how they’d like to alter their schedule to be active at home … when they become a father.” Employers could also subsidized childcare for employees.