How to get women working
I'm impatient for change and removing the barriers for women who want to have children and have a career must be a priority, argues Joanna Milne
Last summer, two boys and a female pterodactyl took down a corrupt government. Their time machine sent the PM and Home Secretary back to the Cretaceous period. Well, that’s what my son thinks. I’d just published a children’s satire imagining these events before campaigning for Labour in the election. You can forgive his confusion.
My writing didn’t get rid of the Tories, but writers can bring change. It is fashionable now for publishers to seek diverse voices. We need those voices, but how does a government with no money choose which one to listen to first? Last year, Reeves estimated the black hole left by the Tories was £22 billion. Whether you accept that figure or not, everyone agrees there is a massive hole.
Having campaigned for change, I’m now impatient. As a school governor, I want more money for schools. As a former criminal barrister, I want investment in the criminal justice system. As a mother who worked in healthcare, I want more affordable childcare and investment in the NHS. I spent nearly five years working for a men’s health charity after I had my boys. But I want nothing more now than removing barriers for women with children who want to work.
Thousands of brilliant women who took their foot off the pedal, time out or changed direction after children, want to work and can’t. When Sadiq Khan addressed exhausted Labour campaigners at their HQ in the Summer, he told us to persevere. I’ve never been so inspired by a speech. As a job hunter at the time, it was doubly moving.
As a barrister who wanted children, I decided to transition away from court work involving frequent travel. When my flexible working request was refused, I resigned. Ten years ago, I could move into part-time roles after maternity leave. After redundancy in 2023, despite twenty years’ experience, and interim work, I’m still looking for permanent part-time work to supplement my writing. The current market is dire even for experienced determined job-seekers.
If you are a bright woman wanting children one day, you have no idea what’s about to hit you. You were probably taught you could equal or surpass your male counterparts. I went to a school like that. But you weren’t prepared for what was around the corner. Most women are clueless until it happens.
The problem of women with children not being able to find part-time work is especially acute in skilled industries like Law, from which ironically the government could make more tax. Incentives to get people working again were published in a white paper in November. It mentions women, but fails to tackle the problem adequately. There’s no point rebranding ‘The Jobcentre’ as ‘The National Careers Service’ or creating jobs that don’t match people’s skill-sets or circumstances, or they won’t get the jobs they apply for.
So how do we help more women?
First, remove the stigma around part-time work and job-sharing, through targeted government sponsored communications. Those scrolling job sites know that even London-based jobs go from the hundreds to double digits if you add a part-time filter. Recruit ambassadors and influencers. Award logos for ‘Flexy Work’ employers.
Part-time work is a solution not a problem. It saves employers money, helps with child care constraints, facilitates upskilling and lateral moves, promotes better work-life balance, mental health, reduces NHS spending and even helps tackle our aging population (which realistically needs to work longer, but part-time).
Secondly, create tax incentives for employers offering part-time jobs, with greater incentives for highly skilled jobs, British citizens and work-shadowing schemes for unpaid carers. I appreciate the deficit, but to generate more taxes and effect change, investment is required. You do need to spend money to make it.
Finally, design proper mentoring schemes for women. It can be especially hard for us to find role models, especially those who deviate from career paths after kids. We need to hear more from those who cared for children but kept working and thriving. Not just from those whom a friend once dubbed ‘men with tits.’ Women: lift one another up more! Women at the top: be more vocal and proactive when you climb higher. If we’ve learned anything from the Covid years, wasn’t it the value of kindness?
We spend a lot of time in this country arguing about the past and pointing fingers. But hearing the same arguments on repeat is boring and counterproductive. Let’s work together to generate fresh ideas. People need hope. Women need hope. The country needs them and their taxes.
About the author: Joanna Milne is a female barrister, writer, mother of two, and former Labour campaigner. She writes on why reform is needed for carers who want to work and how to change the system.