Low-income parents ‘should be encouraged to work’

More needs to be done to encourage low-income fathers and mothers to enter the workforce, one sector commentator has claimed.

Last week, the Department for Work and Pensions announced thousands of lone parents will get extra help to receive training and work experience while their children are at nursery school.

Furthermore, such parents will be able to retain £50 of their wages before losing any benefit if they get jobs for less than 16 hours a week.

As a result of the proposals, there will be a renewed obligation on single parents to prepare themselves for work through training, work experience or CV writing.

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However, Adrienne Burgess, head of research at the Fatherhood Institute, said the proposals are unlikely to help lone fathers to re-enter the workforce.

He added this is because non-resident fathers are typically treated as single men who do not have children, meaning there is no support for the role they play in caring or any attempt made to help them strike a work-family balance – something HR professionals may wish to reverse.

“Measures that encourage low income fathers and mothers to enter or re-enter the workforce – and also to gain education and to care for their children – are essential for the development and maintenance of families facing financial constraints,” Mr Burgess urged.