The government announced a package of measures aimed at encouraging lone parents' employment. From October 2004 the government would pay for registered childcare for lone parents who needed it, and who received the 'work search premium', while they looked for work; from April 2005 it would pay for one week of registered childcare for everyone on the New Deal for Lone Parents who needed it in the week before they started work; from April 2005 lone parent in-work credit pilots would be extended to lone parents and couples with children across London who had been on qualifying benefits for a year giving an extra 40 a week for the first year of a new job; there would be extra work-focused interviews for lone parents on income support whose youngest child was 14 or over quarterly interviews would begin from October 2005; and a compulsory action plan would be completed for lone parents when attending their regular work-focused interviews from October 2004.
Source: Pre-Budget Report: The strength to take the long-term decisions for Britain - Seizing the opportunities of the global recovery, Cm 6042, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 10 December 2003, columns 1061-1086, TSO
Links: Report (pdf) | Hansard | DWP press release | OPF press release (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Dec
The government announced a series of measures to promote its welfare to work strategy. They included additional childcare support for lone parents; pilots of a new mandatory jobsearch and motivational course for all jobseekers over 25 who had been out of work for six months scheduled to start June 2005; extension of the 'Action Team for Jobs' programme for a further two years until April 2006; measures to promote self-employment, including a review of the routes off benefits into self-employment; voluntary personal adviser support for those on incapacity benefit, from April 2004; quarterly work-focused interviews for parents in workless households who had been on certain benefits for a year or more and had children over 12, who could benefit from the extended schools childcare pilots, from September 2004; and extended eligibility for the New Deal for Partners for those in a family in receipt of working tax credit, who were either not working or working up to 16 hours a week, on a pilot basis from October 2004.
Source: Pre-Budget Report: The strength to take the long-term decisions for Britain - Seizing the opportunities of the global recovery, Cm 6042, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 10 December 2003, columns 1061-1086, TSO
Links: Report (pdf) | Hansard | DWP press release
Date: 2003-Dec
A report examined the evidence from other countries on the effectiveness of welfare to work programmes targeted at lone parents. It included an overview of the New Deal for Lone Parents, including the background and policy context, participation, and participants experience of it. It also summarised evidence on the cost-effectiveness of the NDLP and on its impact on employment.
Source: Jane Millar and Martin Evans (eds.), Lone Parents and Employment: International comparisons of what works, W181, Department for Work and Pensions (0114 209 8274)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Dec
Researchers evaluated an outreach service for lone parents and partners of unemployed people. It was found that the service had helped to address an information deficit around in-work support and benefits, and to reiterate the non-compulsory nature of the New Deals for lone parents and partners (NDLP and NDP). It had also helped to address fears and negative preconceptions of the Jobcentre service, and increased the likelihood that clients would engage with New Deal.
Source: Andy Hirst et al., A Qualitative Evaluation of the Lone Parents and Partners Outreach Service, W179, Department for Work and Pensions (0114 209 8274)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | DWP press release
Date: 2003-Dec
A report provided findings from a longitudinal survey of lone parents who attended a mandatory personal adviser meeting: overall experiences of initial meetings and review meetings were positive, with most lone parents saying that the advice they received was helpful and that they were treated as an individual (although only around a third said the initial meeting made them 'more hopeful about the future', and only 4 in 10 said the same about the annual review meeting). Another report presented findings from qualitative interviews with personal advisers and lone parents who participated in six-month review meetings: overall, the meetings seemed to be working well, with the majority of lone parents welcoming them as both appropriate and timely.
Source: Nick Coleman, Nicola Rousseau and Matt Laycock, Evaluation of Lone Parent Personal Adviser Meetings: Findings from a longitudinal survey of clients, W172, Department for Work and Pensions (0114 209 8274) | Andrew Thomas and Gerwyn Jones, Lone Parents Personal Adviser Meetings: Qualitative evaluation and case studies on delivery of six months review meetings, W178, Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Report 172 (pdf) | Summary 172 (pdf) | Report 178 (pdf) | Summary 178 (pdf) | DWP press release
Date: 2003-Nov
A report examined the emotional, financial and educational experiences of young people growing up in one-parent families in Northern Ireland. It recommended a number of policy changes, including an increase in income support levels, more training and childcare, and a higher minimum wage.
Source: Valerie Bunting, Anne Marie Gray and Lynda Spence, From Strength to Strength, Gingerbread NI (029 9023 1417) and School of Policy Studies/University of Ulster
Links: University of Ulster press release
Date: 2003-Oct
Researchers examined the characteristics and work transitions of employed lone and coupled mothers during 1999-2001, focusing on those working under 16 hours per week. In 2001 half of all lone mothers were in employment, while 72 per cent of coupled mothers were in employment. Mothers working under 16 hours a week in 2001 were more likely than those working 16 hours or more to be in a lower-skilled job, and to have a health problem, larger families, young children and lower qualifications. These factors were particularly marked for lone mothers, who were also more likely to be in social housing.
Source: Anthony Rafferty, Characteristics of Lone and Coupled Mothers Working Fewer than 16 Hours per Week, In-House Report 125, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Links: Report (pdf) | DWP press release
Date: 2003-Oct
Researchers found that lone parent personal adviser meetings and annual reviews were widely seen as worthwhile, and employment outcomes were felt by some personal advisers to be improving.
Source: Andrew Thomas and Rita Griffiths, Evaluation of the First 18 Months of Lone Parent Personal Adviser Meetings: Findings from the qualitative research, W166, Department for Work and Pensions (0114 209 8274)
Links: DWP index page
Date: 2003-Sep
Researchers found that, overall, the Adviser Discretion Fund was viewed very positively both by lone parents and Jobcentre Plus staff. It was used innovatively and effectively to help lone parents move towards the labour market. For lone parents more than other groups, it tended to be used at the point of transition to work, and was most commonly used for items such as work clothing, travel passes, and help with childcare. (The Fund gives New Deal advisers discretion to make awards of up to 300 to provide anything that would help someone obtain a job, or, if offered a job, to accept an offer.)
Source: ECOTEC Research and Consulting, Adviser Discretion Fund Evaluation: New Deal for Lone Parents, W165, Department for Work and Pensions (0114 209 8274)
Links: DWP press release | DWP index page
Date: 2003-Sep
A report examined the impact of welfare reform on the work and poverty of lone parents living on benefits in depressed local labour markets. It said that an alternative approach to welfare reform was needed that addressed the demand side of the labour market, invested in education and training, and tackled the multiple barriers to employment faced by lone parents.
Source: Joanna Casebourne, Welfare-to-work Programmes for Lone Parents in Depressed Labour Markets, Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion (020 7582 7221)
Links: Report
Date: 2003-Aug
A paper evaluated how policy reforms under the Labour government since 1997 (aimed at reducing child poverty and increasing employment rates among families with children) had affected lone parents' employment. Of the 11 percentage point rise in the rate of employment of lone parents between 1992 and 2002, 5 percentage points could be attributed to policy reform. This increase in employment occurred in spite of significant rises in the level of support for non-working lone parents claiming income support. But the pace of response to the reforms did not look sufficient to meet the government s target of getting 70 per cent of lone parents into work by 2010.
Source: Paul Gregg and Susan Harkness, Welfare Reform and Lone Parents Employment in the UK, Working Paper 03/072, Centre for Market and Public Organisation/University of Bristol (0117 954 6943)
Links: Paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Aug
A study investigated whether the availability of work-life balance practices to an employee was influenced by their being a lone parent. It was found that, although access differed between lone parents and other employees, it was not being a lone parent as such which affected access, but instead certain individual characteristics that lone parents commonly shared and the types of workplaces they were employed in.
Source: John Budd and Karen Mumford, The Relative Availability of Work-life Balance Practices to Lone Parents in Britain, Department of Trade and Industry (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jul
The government said improved recording procedures suggested that more people in Great Britain had participated in the New Deal for Lone Parents than previously thought. Between full national implementation in October 1998 to the end of March 2003, agreements to start on the NDLP caseload reached 471,650, representing 85 per cent of initial interviews. 86,560 lone parents were participating at the end of March 2003.
Source: New Deal for Lone Parents and Personal Adviser Meetings: Statistics to March 2003, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7712 2171)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jun
A synthesis report reviewed evidence from the completed national evaluation programme for the New Deal for Lone Parents. It said the evaluation evidence showed that NDLP had fulfilled its aims; that participation in the programme had grown over time, reaching more than 9 per cent of lone parents on income support; and that participation was positively associated with readiness for (and proximity to) work, and with higher education and skills. The government said the NDLP had been a success and had had significant financial benefits for the taxpayer and society in general.
Source: Martin Evans, Jill Eyre, Jane Millar and Sophie Sarre, New Deal for Lone Parents: Second synthesis report of the national evaluation, W163, Department for Work and Pensions (0114 209 8274) | Press release 25.6.03, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7712 2171)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | DWP press release
Date: 2003-Jun
Researchers examined the experiences of lone parents from different minority ethnic groups, their participation in the New Deal for Lone Parents (NDLP) and their interaction with the Child Support Agency. A strong preference was expressed by black and Asian lone parents for nursery provision rather than childminders. Those Asian lone parents who had stopped working when they married believed it had not been culturally acceptable for them to do paid work. Among the non-English speakers and those lone parents with limited English skills, there was often no, or very limited, awareness of the NDLP programme. There was a general lack of awareness of the role of the Child Support Agency.
Source: Nick Pettigrew, Experiences of Lone Parents from Minority Ethnic Communities, Research Report 187, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Links: Report | Summary (pdf) | DWP press release
Date: 2003-May
A report contained the results of an evaluation of the New Deal for Lone Parents. It was found that the programme appears to have had a large and positive impact on entries into paid work. After six months, 43 per cent of participants had entered full-time or part-time work, compared to 19 per cent of matched non-participants.
Source: Miranda Phillips, Kevin Pickering, Carli Lessof, Susan Purdon and Jon Hales, New Deal for Lone Parents Evaluation: Findings from the Quantitative Survey, WAE 147, Department for Work and Pensions (0114 259 6278) | Evaluation of the New Deal for Lone Parents: Technical report for the quantitative survey, WAE 146, Department for Work and Pensions
Links: WAE147 (pdf) | WAE146 (pdf) | Press release (1) | Press release (2)
Date: 2003-Mar
Analysis of the 2001 Census results showed that lone parents accounted for 10 per cent of all households in England and Wales. Nine out of ten lone parents were women. Nearly half of female lone parents and nearly two-thirds of male lone parents were in paid work.
Source: Press release 13.2.03, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034)
Links: Census website | Press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb