While some back initiative as a ‘win’ for business, others criticise ‘modest sum’ and say more needs to be done to change workplace cultures
The government has announced a £5m initiative to support women back to work after a career break.
Returnships – otherwise known as ‘returning professional internships’ – formed part of a series of measures outlined in yesterday’s budget to mark International Women’s Day. The £5m boost will open up existing return-to-work schemes to all levels of management and will be used to target industries where women are currently underrepresented.
Annette Cox, associate director at the Institute for Employment Studies, said returnships “had the potential” to help people back into work after a career break, while Emma Codd, managing partner for talent at Deloitte, welcomed the news as a “win win” for women and business. Deloitte’s own return-to-work programme, an industry first, has helped 20 women back to work since its launch two years ago.
But Sam Smethers, CEO of women’s rights charity The Fawcett Society, told People Management the financial boost was a “modest sum” compared to the scale of the problem.“54,000 mothers at work are forced to leave their jobs because they are pregnant. If we really want to support working mums, we would give fathers longer and better paid time off in their baby’s first year and create a culture of flexibility in the workplace that enables mothers and fathers to work flexibly,” she said. “More senior part-time jobs are also essential to ensure mothers don’t get trapped in low-paid part-time work when they return.”
Eva Neitzert, co-director of the Women's Budget Group, added: “It is also not just about money. We need workplace cultures to be more open to accommodating caring responsibilities. This requires strengthened rights around flexible working to ensure that women can combine work with caring for their children without fear of being discriminated against."
Theresa May revealed the government’s plans for return-to-work schemes ahead of the budget announcement in a post on parenting website Mumsnet. She wrote: “Women are driving our economy forward, securing 77 per cent of new jobs last year – and now represent a higher percentage of FTSE board membership than ever before.
“Returnships are open to both men and women but we should acknowledge that, more often than not, it is women who give up their careers to devote themselves to motherhood, only to find the route back into employment closed off – the doors shut to them.”
Meanwhile, Annabel Jones, HR director at payroll services firm ADP, urged HR representatives across the UK to address the barriers preventing women from returning to current roles and called on HR and management to ensure there were “proper procedures in place” that would “impact on cultural stigmas” in the workforce. Pre-existing biases for returning mothers, such as assuming they would be easily distracted or unable to commit, or that time away would prove damaging, were incorrect, she insisted.
The government’s returnship proposals follow recommendations made in January by the Women and Work All Parliamentary Group, which called on large firms to provide paid return-to-work programmes for women with guaranteed training, advice and support.
As part of the budget the chancellor also pledged tax-free childcare, saving families up to £2,000 a year for each child under 12 years old, while parents of three to four-year-olds will be entitled to 30 hours of free childcare a week from September.