Guest post: 'Flexible working is essential for single parents, and we must insist on having the option'

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It feels like we've come a long way on flexible working. We're plugged into our smartphones picking up work outside office hours, looking at laptops perched on kitchen tables, and the quieter roads and buses on Fridays are testament to more people working from home one day a week. Even the Deputy Prime Minister is extolling its virtues.

But the statistics, and many parents' experiences, show there is still some way to go. Although there are 4 million people in the UK working full-time roles flexibly - whether that's compressed hours, home working or variable shifts - there are another 8.7 million full-time workers who want to work flexibly but aren't able to.

The lack of flexible working opportunities is one of the biggest barriers to work for single parents. They often have to balance being the sole carer for their children with earning enough to put food on the table, and more than half of the out-of-work single parents we surveyed earlier this year told us it's usually a lack of flexibility that stops them from applying for roles.

Single parent of two, Luci, gave up her successful career in advertising to take a job as a teaching assistant. She was overqualified, but the job's term-time hours and proximity to home and her children's schools made it a role she could balance with becoming a newly single parent. Now she only gets paid during the school terms, and struggles to afford the basics for her family.

Single parents like Luci are taking on more junior roles because they offer, or are perceived to offer, greater flexibility. The lack of flexible jobs is not just stopping single parents from working, it's affecting the earning capacity of those who are in work - and lower salaries and slower career progression are particularly problematic if you're the sole earner.

There are clear issues for businesses here: if they fail to offer flexibility they limit the pool of people they can recruit from. What's more, talented, experienced staff risk being under-used, stuck in limbo in roles they are overqualified for, or leaving to take flexible jobs elsewhere. Business body the CBI has now warned businesses that they must take flexible working more seriously if they want to attract and keep the best staff.

That's why we're calling on the government to make it a legal right for job applicants to request flexible working from the point of job offer, not after 6 months of being in the role, as is currently the case.

We know lots of employers are still squeamish about this. They are unsure how it would work in practice and have been slow to respond to the changing nature of our working lives - but they must realise that 9-5 is becoming increasingly outdated. There is mounting evidence that flexible working helps businesses with their bottom line - half of those surveyed by the British Chamber of Commerce reported higher productivity as a result of having introduced flexible work, and in a Regus poll, nine out of ten reported that offering flexible working options had improved staff morale.

We need to show employers that it does work, and a big part of that is sharing our success stories. That's why we've made today #FlexiWorkDay. We want parents and employers to share why flexible working is important for them, and talk openly about how they've managed it, what they've learned along the way and how it can benefit everyone.

Attitudes towards flexible working are changing, but we've still got a long way to go.

That's such a shame MrsS. I think that it's absolutely crucial to have really rigorous guidelines around flexiworking in place to prevent that sort of abuse - no-one, for example, should be working from home and looking after their children as it simply can't be done.

Thst should been - their young children

I think the article explains what is meant by flexible working - that people can negotiate hours that work for them and their caring responsibilities. It's not a one size fits all. Having said that, it doesn't mean trying to look after toddlers while working from home to avoid paying for childcare. I presume you escalated when you came across that happening? I've never worked anywhere where that happened and would be really shocked if people took the piss like that.

My experience has been totally different - I've worked places where the culture of presenteeism has gradually broken down. I now do a lot of work with international teams who never actually meet face to face so work entirely over calls and emails. Everyone is hugely professional but I've got no idea if the people I'm talking to are in their PJs. Because of the time differences, occasionally someone will have a child interrupt but then I think if you're expecting people to do calls at unsocial hours then that's inevitable. That to me is what flexible working is about - I expect work to be flexible but then I'm equally flexible and will work evenings and weekends. A little bit of tolerance goes a long way.

What matilda said.
And yes Micah, my dc s dad has no caring responsibilites, picks up none of the slack, and pays 40 a month maintenence. If you visit the lone parents board you will find hundreds of lone parents doing it actually alone. Hth.

We have flexible working at my company and it really works. But there are a few things that I think are important.

flexible working is available for everyone. Not just parents, or single parents (like me). Some of our younger team members use it for sporting commitments, some for childcare, some just because they want to. One persons request doesn't trump everyone else's just because they are a parent. (or a single parent). We can also request extra unpaid leave if we need it and I usually end up taking a couple of extra weeks a year to cover emergencies and sickness as I don't have back up at home.

We all accept that sometimes children are ill, and that everyone wants to go to the school play or nativity.

BUT, I don't recollect anyone using it as a means of looking after small children whilst trying to work, except in an emergency. We all respect our work time as well.

It is one thing my employer has got right and it makes a massive difference, our staff tend to stay and morale is good even though we are in a high pressure environment.

There are better paid jobs out there with competitors , but money isn't everything. I have turned down two more highly paid job offers in the past 5 years to stay in my current role as it works for my family. I do 40+ hours a week, so my employer is getting a good deal, but because I do it at my own schedule and much of it from home, so am I.

And if you visit the SN boards you'll see the problems parents face there, and the forces boards the problems parents face, and parenting boards the problems faced by other parents, and so on, and so on....HTH.

No point in getting into a competition as to whose childcare/caring needs are greater - the important thing to recognise is that parents and families in varying forms can face massive problems when it comes to juggling caring responsibilites and employment, which is why the title of this Guest Post 'Flexible working is essential for single parents, and we must insist on having the option' has been questioned and challenged - with the majority of people arguing for flexiworking for all who need it.

I didn't say every lone parent has a nrp to help out. I fully realise there are lots who don't.

My point was you can't lump everyone in the same needs category. Not all lp's are on their own. Not all childless people are completely free of responsibilities. Not all parents with a SO have no need for flexible working.

You cannot give the right to flexible working to lone parents in preference to everyone else. It must be offered to all.

Basing preferential treatment of employees based on one circumstance is wrong. X may be a lp, but she may have lots of help. Y may have a partner but she may have a severely disabled child who can't go to wraparound care and needs a job to pay for house remodelling as the child grows.

Add to that that there are a lot of people, single, married, whatever, who can't work regular hours for whatever reason. They're a huge lost resource. Because I can't work flexibly, I don't work. I have a PhD and 20 years of working in drug development. No pharmaceutical company will employ me on flexible hours.