The findings were published of a study of lone parents who had made a claim for jobseeker's allowance when their youngest child was aged 7. There was a strong dislike of claiming JSA, with the result that it often gave lone parents a 'push' towards work. Reluctance to use formal childcare was less strongly reported than in previous evaluations: this appeared to be because of positive experiences of free early years education.
Source: Pippa Lane, Jo Casebourne, Lorraine Lanceley, and Malen Davies, Lone Parent Obligations: Work, childcare and the jobseeker?s allowance regime, Research Report 782, Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Report | Summary | DWP press release
Date: 2011-Dec
A paper formulated a simple model of female labour force decisions that took into account in-work benefit reform (using the example of working families tax credit). The model explicitly allowed for announcement and implementation effects. It explored several mechanisms through which women could respond to the announcement of a reform that increased in-work benefits, including sources of intertemporal substitution, human capital accumulation, and labour market frictions.
Source: Richard Blundell, Marco Francesconi, and Wilbert van der Klaauw, Anatomy of Welfare Reform Evaluation: Announcement and implementation effects, Discussion Paper 6050, Institute for the Study of Labor (Bonn)
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Oct
A paper evaluated the pilot of an in-work credit for lone parents, under which payments were time-limited and conditional on previous receipt of welfare. The policy did increase flows off welfare and into work, and these positive effects did not diminish after recipients reached the 12-month time limit for receiving the supplement. Most of the impact arose by speeding up welfare off-flows. The job retention of programme recipients was good: but this could not be attributed to the programme itself.
Source: Mike Brewer, James Browne, Haroon Chowdry, and Claire Crawford, The Impact of a Time-Limited, Targeted In-Work Benefit in the Medium-Term: An evaluation of in work credit, Working Paper 11/14, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Aug
Two linked reports examined policy measures targeted at lone and couple parents, designed to increase parental employment and reduce child poverty. They looked at the effects of 'in work credit' and other policy measures on parents' work-related decision-making and behaviours – in particular at whether the measures encouraged and supported work entry, work retention, and work progression. A related area of investigation explored how parents were able to balance work and childcare.
Source: Rita Griffiths, Helping More Parents Move Into Work: An evaluation of the extension of New Deal Plus for Lone Parents and in work credit – Phase 1 report, Research Report 731, Department for Work and Pensions | Rita Griffiths, Helping More Parents Move Into Work: An evaluation of the extension of New Deal Plus for Lone Parents and in work credit – Final report, Research Report 732, Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Report (731) | Summary (731) | Report (732) | Summary (732)
Date: 2011-May
Researchers examined whether and how lone parent employment interventions provided an effective incentive to look for paid employment. They focused on the characteristics, circumstances, and attitudes of lone parents whose youngest child was approaching the 'threshold' age of 7 or 8. Most lone parents (78 per cent) reported wanting to work, and 69 per cent thought that they would work in the next few years: but they reported multiple barriers to employment, in particular the need for a job where they could take time off at short notice to look after their child(ren).
Source: Nick Coleman and Lorraine Lanceley, Lone Parent Obligations: Supporting the Journey Into Work, Research Report 736, Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Report | Summary | DWP press release
Date: 2011-May
An article examined the wider 'choice' agenda in public services in relation to lone-parent employment, focusing on the period following the 2007 Freud Review of welfare provision. A substantial proportion of lone parents targeted by policy reform did not want a job, and their main reported reason was that they were looking after their children. Economically inactive lone mothers also remained more likely to have other chronic employment barriers that traversed dependent child age categories. Some problems, such as poor health, sickness or disability, were particularly acute among those with older dependent children who were the target of recent activation policy.
Source: Anthony Rafferty and Jay Wiggan, 'Choice and welfare reform: lone parents' decision making around paid work and family life', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 40 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Apr
A report said that tax credit cuts introduced in April 2011 would cut the gains to work for single parents by an average of £500 per year.
Source: Working But Losing: Why the tax credit changes from April 2011 will reduce work incentives for single parents, Gingerbread
Links: Report | Gingerbread press release
Date: 2011-Apr
A report sought to identify the barriers faced by black and minority-ethnic lone mothers seeking to engage with their communities, and to highlight the approaches that were most effective in enabling them to overcome those barriers.
Source: Jobeda Khanum and Onjali Rauf, The BAME Lone Mother Equation: An examination of the barriers & enablers to empowerment for BAME lone mothers, Limehouse Project
Links: Report | Limehouse Project press release
Date: 2011-Apr
Researchers examined the delivery, take-up, and outcomes of the Employment Retention and Advancement demonstration (ERA) in respect of lone parents. ERA increased the likelihood of taking occupationally relevant courses, and increased training among those with lower educational credentials and among parents of older children.
Source: Richard Hendra, Kathryn Ray, Sandra Vegeris, Debra Hevenstone, and Maria Hudson, Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) Demonstration: Delivery, Take-Up, and Outcomes of In-Work Training Support for Lone Parents, Research Report 727, Department for Work and Pensions
Notes: The ERA demonstration operated within six Jobcentre Plus districts from 2003 to 2007. It featured a package of measures designed to help participants enter, remain in, and advance in full-time work.
Date: 2011-Mar
An article examined lone mothers' experiences of sustaining employment while living on a low, but complex, income.
Source: Tess Ridge and Jane Millar, 'Following families: working lone-mother families and their children', Social Policy and Administration, Volume 45 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Feb