UK childcare cuts cause rise in number of stay-at-home mums
Summary of story from The Daily Mail, August 8, 2011
A think tank report has found that the number of stay-at-home mothers in the UK has increased during the recession.
The Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) says that cuts to tax credits and the rising costs of childcare are pricing women out of the job market.
Dalia Ben-Galim, associate director of the IPPR, said: “Cuts to childcare tax credits mean that for some women work no longer pays and they are better off staying at home.”
The working tax credit was cut in April, reducing the cover for childcare costs from 80 to 70 percent. The average cost of childcare is £97 a week for 25 hours, rising to an average of £115 in the south east.
The IPPR report also says women have been more affected than men by public sector redundancies. Although unemployment in the last year fell overall by 20,000, the number of unemployed women rose by 42,000.
A spokesman at the Department of Work and Pensions spokesman disputed the IPPR research.
“We are committed to helping all jobseekers back into sustainable employment,” he said. “Women who are looking for a job should visit their Jobcentre.”
Women outnumber men in the public sector so women being more affected by redundancies seems again to be a complete non-issue from this post.
We are apparently (from the article) looking at a cut from 80% of £100 or so to a 70% of £100 value … or roughly £10 per week. While that is a relatively substantial number across a year they don’t seem to show a breakdown of the women leaving work for this. Combined with the overall recession (more women at home being sahm since they don’t have jobs?) it seems like a badly put together piece.