Mums want flexible working hours for their partners

A survey has shown that mums feel dads are discriminated against when it comes to flexible working.

65% of women questioned by Workingmums.co.uk felt their partners were treated unfairly over flexible working hours.

Gillian Nissim, founder of Workingmums.co.uk, said: ‘Although much progress is being made on flexible working for women, there is concern that men are finding it more difficult to negotiate this.

‘This has a knock-on effect on women who, due to the high cost of childcare, may be forced out of work or to work fewer hours than they would like.’

The survey also revealed concerns over a lack of flexible jobs in general for parents struggling with their work-life balance. Over a third of the 365 women surveyed said they felt trapped in the job they went on maternity leave from because of its flexible arrangement. Many felt this type of flexible arrangement wasn’t offered in new job positions.

‘If the Government extends the right to request flexible working to all workers we hope that it will become the norm and businesses will begin to think of flexible working as the default position when recruiting,’ said Nissim.

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