Live webchat about women and work with Maria Miller, Culture Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities, TODAY, Thursday 22 November, 1pm to 2pm

[FrancesMumsnet]

Hello, we're very pleased to announce that Maria Miller, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, and Minister for Women and Equalities will be joining us for a live webchat on Thursday 22 Nov between 1pm and 2pm.

Maria has been the MP for Basingstoke since 2005 and has previously held shadow education and family briefs. Before entering Parliament, Maria worked in advertising. She is married with three children.

This is Maria's second Mumsnet webchat.

Maria is keen to hear your thoughts on how to get more women into work, with a particular focus on getting the right childcare in place for women. She also wants to hear your thoughts on how the government can make workplaces more equal environments, where women can better realise their potential.

Do join us for the webchat. As ever, if you can't make it, please post up your advance questions here.

Thanks,

MNHQ

[RatherBeOnThePiste]

SureStart centres!



Sure Start is being cut, ring fenced budgets removed and not enough money to go round , not the best place to find books surely if they are closed down?!!!

[ChrissyD68]

StewieGriffinsMom, you are absolutely right. That's exactly why we are reforming the CSA - to make it work better in getting children the support they need.

. . . and what do mums do in teh meantime, the CSA has never worked! What exactly are you proposing to reform.

. . . for goodness sake answer a question with some detail

[Xenia]

David Cameron promised that a third of the cabinet would be female (even 33.3% is pathetic why not 50% or even 80% - there are huge numbers of good women around).

In the reshuffle women have 5 of 31 posts. We judge by deeds not words (although "calm down dear" etc has not helped)...

So yes please continue to make your views felt or we will all be heading off to Norway or voting for a party keener to get women to the top.

[RatherBeOnThePiste]

Feels like Sure Start has been raided to pay for the free places for 2 year olds. Would you agree Maria?

[Ahardyfool]

You know, none of my (many ) questions have been answered. Indeed they have been skipped over. However, this has answered the very question I need to understand the answer to most; "is this Government doing anything to empower me as a woman and a parent?" No.

[MariaMillerMP]

@bunchamunchycrunchycarrots

Hello? Why are my questions being ignored?

Sorry, not ignoring, just lots of questions! Before and after school care can be a real problem for working parents, especially for older children. There is already help for 70% of childcare costs for people on lower incomes and our Childcare Commission is looking at how we make sure that the money we have to support childcare (which is one of the highest budgets in Europe) is used most effectively. And, the extra money we announced recently will help more childcare providers set up and is designed to stimulate the market right now.

[bunchamunchycrunchycarrots]

Ahardyfool, I'll join you on the invisible step as it seems my questions are also being ignored.

[slug]

I see she's ignoring the abortion time limit questions.

Perhaps in the light of the Ireland case she's reviewing her stance

[MariaMillerMP]

@RatherBeOnThePiste

Feels like Sure Start has been raided to pay for the free places for 2 year olds. Would you agree Maria?

We are absolutely committed to Sure Start!! We certainly haven't raided it - what we have done though is cut some admin costs so as to protect the frontline services; In these tough times - it's the right thing to do!

[ChrissyD68]

Ahardyfool . . . the Minister seems unable to answer any questions with any detail. me thinks she is one of Cameron's lady puppets. This Governement arent looking to empower people like you, you have too many children and should know better . . . now get back in your box (or go and pick teh kids up).

[Meglet]

The government are NOT reforming the CSA, they are making it harder to access. IIRC the recent DWP consultation said that the fee to use the CSA would still not guarantee they would be able to collect money off the absent parent.

[Ahardyfool]

"There is already help for 70% of childcare costs for people on lower incomes and our Childcare Commission is looking at how we make sure that the money we have to support childcare (which is one of the highest budgets in Europe) is used most effectively."

I wonder why it is one of the highest budgets in Europe - something to do with the fact that in other countries men don't get to shirk their responsibilities quite as effectively as here..?

[Alameda]

please can you respond to 2andout's question at 13:33:46, thanks

[MariaMillerMP]

@Ahardyfool

You know, none of my (many ) questions have been answered. Indeed they have been skipped over. However, this has answered the very question I need to understand the answer to most; "is this Government doing anything to empower me as a woman and a parent?" No.

Hello Ahardyfool, we have record numbers of women in work under this Government. And the changes we are making to flexible working and parental leave will mean men and women can make their own decisions about how they balance work and family life - rather than having decisions made by the state.

[RatherBeOnThePiste]

£2 million, is as someone says 'derisory' and it will be given as £500 grants. In the real world, what exactly will that do to help?

[MariaMillerMP]

@TheCrackFox

Please stop going on about a £2million fund. The govt probably spends more a year on staples, it is a derisory amount.

£500 grants will help up to 6000 businesses. I don't think that's derisory at all. It's things like adapting premises and covering the set up legal costs that matter to those trying to set things up and as i've mentioned it's part of a much wider package worth well over £1.5bn!

[TheCrackFox]

It doesn't matter that you are covering 70% of after school care for people on lower incomes.

There is no breakfast club where I live, the after school club is full and childminders are like good dust (and charge 31p per hour, per child, mote than the minimum wage).

Parents want to work but there is wrap around childcare is a rarity. Sort it out.

[bunchamunchycrunchycarrots]

Sorry, not ignoring, just lots of questions! Before and after school care can be a real problem for working parents, especially for older children. There is already help for 70% of childcare costs for people on lower incomes and our Childcare Commission is looking at how we make sure that the money we have to support childcare (which is one of the highest budgets in Europe) is used most effectively. And, the extra money we announced recently will help more childcare providers set up and is designed to stimulate the market right now.

Surely cutting local governments budgets has done the complete opposite, and removed the provision of care that was needed for all these extra parents entering the workforce? And providing 70% of the cost of a service that isn't there in the 1st place does nothing to address this issue.

[slug]

"we have record numbers of women in work under this Government."

Really????? When did you count this? At the very beginning of the govt? Because women are losing their jobs in disproportionate amounts during the recession. How do you square this with your comment above?

[MariaMillerMP]

@Ahardyfool

"..., you are absolutely right. That's exactly why we are reforming the CSA - to make it work better in getting children the support they need"

Can you elaborate?

Ahardyfool - For too long the CSA simply hasn't worked properly, and the IT system couldn't cope. That's changing, so we will have a system that actually works and for the first time parents will have the proper support they need. I used to look after this in my last job, and will continue to keep a close eye on how things progress. It's really important for families.

[Xenia]

The fewer decisions made by the state the better. I wonder how we can best foster a spirit that one's own family is one's responsibility rather than we will all be supported whether we choose to work cradle to grave by the state as those of us who are small business owners and work very hard do feel a lot of people work very little and we in a sense keep them through all the tax we pay.

The increase in numbers of women working in this recession is great. Even if a woman starts to work at a slight loss it gets her back into the habit. We worked for a year years ago when childcare was more than half of both of our earnings - it was a joint expense of mother and father of course back in the 80s as one hopes it is now in non sexist families (only foolish women assume childcare is a woman's issue).

Thankfully for small business owners the right to request flexible working is just a right to ask. It is perfectly okay for an employer to say no as often it does not work.

What many of us want is much less state spending and much bigger cuts but both parties seem to be much of a muchness on this. None seems prepared to cut back the frontiers of the state and let the free market be free with much lower flat taxes which would hugely benefit enterprise and attract business to the UK.

[Ahardyfool]

For goodness' sake. You can make policy after reform after policy. As others have said, this does not change the REALITY for mothers like me.

I am OUT OF WORK due to resignation a couple of weeks ago because I cannot make the numbers work. Nothing you have said will actually change things for me or others like me.

[bunchamunchycrunchycarrots]

as i've mentioned it's part of a much wider package worth well over £1.5bn!

You claim to have set up this £1.5BN package, yet the most fundamental part of working parents' problems, when they have school-aged children, has been a complete afterthought. Not being even considered or looked at until next year. Unbelievable!