Skip to main content

THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF WORKING MOTHERS

According to recent research from the USA, a record number of women in the American workforce are the sole or primary breadwinners for their families.

In a finding that shows the massive change in working practices over the last fifty years, mothers now bring the majority of funding into 40 per cent of households, up from 11 per cent in 1960.

And whilst most of these families tend to be headed by single mothers, the number of married mothers who are bringing in more income than their husbands is also increasing. Indeed, in nearly a quarter of American marriages, the woman is the major breadwinner.

So what are attitudes of America to this finding?

Not surprisingly, they are mixed. Whilst 67 per cent stated that the extra income from working mothers made it easier for families to earn enough to live comfortably, 74 per cent said that it had also made it harder for parents to raise children.

Another contradictory finding is that whilst the vast majority have rejected that women should return to their traditional roles, over half said that children are better off with the mother being at home as compared to only 8 per cent for a father.

Yet, the number of stay at home fathers in the USA is increasing and is up 78 per cent from a decade ago although they still only account for 3.6 per cent of all at home parents.

But while the gender balances between the home and the workplace is changing, it is clear that many organisations still don’t understand the importance of work-life balances, especially amongst the growing number of women who want to build successful careers in business and also be with their families.

As a result, some have speculated that this could see an increase in female entrepreneurship over the next few years where customer service is more important than the hours you work.

However, not everyone can run their own business and with more women going into the workforce to earn income for their families, it is critical that governments should adjust their own policy thinking to take this into account.

As I have pointed out previously in this column, one of the biggest barriers for women to return to the workforce after having children is the massive current cost of childcare.

And whilst the coalition government has rightly acted to relax rules around nurseries, thus hopefully making them cheaper to run and therefore passing on these lower costs to parents, this is nowhere near what could be done to help families where both parents are working.

In fact, I remain disappointed that there has been no serious examination by the Treasury on how childcare and other family costs could be made tax deductible either directly for working parents or even for the hundreds of thousands of grandparents who currently do childminding at no cost.

Indeed, only last week, a study showed that almost 20 per cent of grandmothers in the UK provide at least ten hours of childcare a week, and around 90 per cent of them provide this care for free. Based on average childminder rates, that care would be worth £7.3 billion, nearly double what it was a decade ago.

So much remains to be done to ensure that government policies reflect the real changes that are happening in the workplace. With less than two years to go of this current administration, I hope that some of the radicalism we saw back in the summer of 2010 will reassert itself and that ministers will develop policies that really help hard working families around the country, especially if both parents of those families are working.
 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

THE CRACHACH

Unlike me, do you consider yourself part of 'the establishment' here in Wales?  As thousands gather for the Eisteddfod in Mold this morning, they will, according to some social commentators, not be participating in the greatest cultural festivals of Europe. Instead, they will merely be bit-part players in one of the annual gatherings of the great and good of Wales.  Unkindly, this set of the movers and shakers in Welsh society is known as 'the crachach' , and constitute a social class all of their own, dominating the educational, cultural and media sectors of Wales and allegedly looking down upon any outsider with new ideas, reinforcing mediocrity and failing to see beyond the limits of their own narrow experience.  They are said to live in a comfort zone that awaits the expected invitation to the next glass of chilled chardonnay and canapés, forgetting that due to their lack of leadership and drive, Wales remains firmly rooted to the bottom of the UK prosperity league ...

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CREATIVE CLASSES

One of my favourite academic books of the last two decades must be the “Rise of the Creative Classes” by Professor Richard Florida.  This was one of the first detailed studies of the growing group of individuals who use their creativity and mental labour to earn a living and not only included those in arts and entertainment, but also people working in science and technology as well as knowledge-based professions such as healthcare, law, business, and finance.  Fast forward to 2022 and Professor Florida has written an updated report on the creative classes although he and his team now identify a different type of individual who is taking full advantage of the growth in digital platforms, social media, and online marketplaces.  Such ‘creators’ are defined as those who use digital technology to make and publish unique creative content, whether in the form of video, film, art, music, design, text, games, or any other media that audiences can access and respond to.  They ...

THE IMPORTANCE OF FRANCHISING

When we talk about start-ups and entrepreneurship, rarely do we discuss the potential of franchising not only as a way of establishing new ventures in the economy but also as a method of growing existing businesses. According to the British Franchising Association, franchising is the granting of a licence by one person (the franchisor) to another (the franchisee), which entitles the franchisee to own and operate their own business under the brand, systems and proven business model of the franchisor. The franchisee also receives initial training and ongoing support, comprising all the elements necessary to establish a previously untrained person in the business. This enables individuals to start their own businesses without having to develop their own ideas and utilising an existing brand and established market. Of course, whilst each franchise business is owned and operated by the franchisee, the franchisor controls the quality and standards of the way in which the business is...