§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Minister for Women what measures she plans to introduce to achieve a better work-life balance for women. [123330]
§ Ms HewittWe are committed to giving women—and men—the chance to improve their work-life balance. We have already increased maternity pay and leave, introduced paid paternity leave, extended these rights to adoptive parents, and introduced the legal right of parents of children under six and disabled children under 18 to get requests to work flexibly considered seriously.
We will continue to promote best practice in flexible working through the work-life balance campaign. The campaign aims to persuade companies that they could see real business benefits through flexible working; for example, in a recent major work-life balance baseline survey by DTI, four fifths of employers who have work-life balance practices in place report a positive effect on employment relations, and three quarters said they had a more motivated and committed workforce as a result of these practices.
We are also providing practical support through the work life balance challenge fund, which offers subsidised consultancy to develop flexible working projects. The current call for applications ends on 31 July 2003, and we are looking to support up to 200 projects this year.
These measures, mean that women and men now have more choice and more support than ever before to balance childcare and work in ways that benefit everyone: employers, employees and their children.