Like It Is

It seems though the UK’s Commission for Equality and Human Rights is completely poised to call for the government to promote more “family-friendly polices” so that parents can choose when to work.

Reason? A report that will suggest that a mother with a child aged under 11 is 45% less likely to be employed than a man. (The report doesn’t go into the reasons that mothers are discriminated against, but the fact they have young children is telling). Interestingly, pregnant women don’t appear to be as discriminated against as the women with young children. At least they aren’t mentioned, thus far.

The major report into inequality in the UK was commissioned by Tony Blair to examine how peoples lives in Britain are affected by race, gender and age.

It’s not clear yet whether Trevor Phillips, head of the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights, means that parents can pick their work hours, work weeks, work months or work years. Of course, the parents may simply choose none of the above. While parents choose whether they want to work or not, guess who’ll be picking up the slack? Surely not childfree folk that bust their guts to get the job done with no option of being able to choose??

Clearly, since “family-friendly” and “parents” are used in the same sentence, this is all aimed at giving more help to parents, and not their childfree counterparts, who, even though they may be in a minority look like they’ll be relegated to 2nd or third place to mothers and children – sorry, parents. Mustn’t forget the fathers now.

Business feels this kind of policy will undermine competitiveness, which means they will be reluctant to support the “family-friendly parents-choose-your-hours” – should it ever be mooted of course. Since the government has its eye anxiously on producing more children to up the birthrate and keep the future tax payers up to par, they might well be a reality.

So, in the name of equality will Childfree workers also be able to choose when they want to work?

I’m not holding my breath.

Mothers face “job discrimination”

Edit:

Readers on the BBC Forum have their say

Original story: BBC Online