Last week John Swinney reaffirmed the Scottish Government’s commitment to eradicating child poverty. But at the same time, it has cut funding to help employers offer more flexible working, which is often crucial to enable parents to get into work and stay in work.

Need for flex

Our research shows 73% of unemployed parents looking for work have turned down a job because it wasn’t flexible. It also shows that among parents living in poverty who are in work – and are able to work flexibly – nearly a third (31%) would have no choice but to stop working if they could no longer work flexibly.

Funding cut

In July the Scottish Government announced a £350,000 Fairer Workplaces Fund 2024/2-25, to help employers adopt fairer and more flexible working practices. But the fund was cancelled in August as a result of budget controls.

Nikki Slowey, our co-founder and director of Flexibility Works, said: “We know the public purse strings are tight. But if the Scottish Government is serious about reducing child poverty, it needs to leverage flexible working. So many parents are locked out of work altogether, or end up stuck in poor quality, low-paid roles because they need some flexibility around their children.

“Flexible working is essential for many parents to get into work, stay in work, and to progress at work, all of which boosts family finances and can help reduce poverty. And supporting employers to create successful flexible working in all kinds of roles and sectors is a relatively low-cost option.

“We know poverty is a complex issue, and the Scottish Government is right to look at benefit payments, childcare and housing. But flexible working can, and should, play a greater role too.”

Locked out

Kaylee Smith, 32, who lives in Glenrothes, Fife, with her six-year-old son has been searching for a flexible job for 18 months. Despite having some qualifications Kaylee has been unable to find a role with school hours and some home working that she needs.

She said: “So many job adverts just don’t mention flexible working at all, and even when they do, lots of it still won’t work for me. I’m a single parent. I can’t work full time hours, or shifts at all hours of the day and night, because childcare is so limited and expensive. My son has some learning difficulties, which makes things more complicated too.

“I’d love to work, and my goal is to train to be a primary school teacher. But for now, I need the flexibility to be able to work from home if my son is unwell. There isn’t anyone else who can look after him. As yet, I haven’t found an employer who will trust me like that. It makes me feel so frustrated and disheartened.”

How flex can help reduce poverty

We first published details on how we believe flex can do more to tackle poverty in our report How flexible working can reduce poverty as part of our Flex for Life research series earlier this year.

Our report showed nearly four in ten (38%) unemployed Scottish adults looking for work say that if they could work flexibly, they’d be able to work when previously that’s not been possible.

Seven in 10 (68%) said it had been difficult to get information about flexible working for most jobs they’ve considered, illustrating the need for employers to offer more flex, and advertise the flexibility they already offer in job adverts.

Our report also highlighted that the less you earn, the less likely you are to work flexibly. Just 57% of Scottish workers earning less than £20K work flexibly, compared with 83% of workers earning more than £50K.

The data illustrates how Scottish employers could do much more to create more flexible working opportunities in all kinds of roles. But many employers do need support to understand how to successfully implement flexible working.

Recommendations

Our report includes nine recommendations for the Scottish Government including providing specific financial support and guidance for employers to help them embed flexible and friendly working, including manager training.

We also recommend the Scottish Government should reframe the employability space, so the focus is not solely on making people ‘fit’ the existing jobs market. Many people, especially parents, need flexible working yet it’s not available or visible to them during their search for employment including in job adverts. The Scottish Government, as a funder of employability programmes, should also fund activities that make the jobs market itself a better ‘fit’, by encouraging and supporting employers to design and advertise more flexible roles.

Government measures

The Scottish Government has announced several new measures to tackle child poverty including new place-based partnerships. Flexibility Works is being funded to carry out work a small piece of work in an existing place-based programme in Clackmannanshire.