Britain is following an international trend of including lone parents in activation policies. While there was once a question of whether lone parents are treated as mothers or workers, this has shifted now to them being treated as workers. However, the inclusion into work activation schemes is less straightforward for lone parents than for other groups. Most countries base the inclusion in work activation programmes on the age of the youngest child. This approach is mirrored in the current welfare-to-work reform in Britain. The argument put forward in this paper is that focusing on the age of the youngest child alone without taking into account the employability and work orientation of the lone parent is unlikely to lead to an increase in the overall employment rate of lone parents particularly at times of economic crisis. This is because the target group of lone parents with older children has multiple disadvantages with regards to moving into employment. Alternative approaches to selecting lone parents for work activation in place in other countries, are likely to prove more successful.
Presented by:
Tina Haux (ISER)
Date & time:
February 10, 2010 1:00 pm - February 10, 2010 2:00 pm
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