Lone Parents in Work

HL Deb 04 July 2001 vol 626 c46WA

Lord Northbourne

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the target they have set themselves in the White Paper Towards Full Employment to raise to 70 per cent the proportion of lone parents in work includes non-resident fathers. [HL89]

Baroness Hollis of Heigham

Lone parents face problems on moving into work due to balancing their work life with their caring responsibilities. This is why we are providing extra help for lone parents to reduce these inequalities and offer them a range of choices to gain more independence through moving into work.

We have set ourselves the ambitious target for the next 10 years of increasing the number of lone parents in work from just over half to 70 per cent. This target does not include non-resident fathers unless they are lone parents with dependent children in their own right.