This document provides a summary of key facts about work and family life in the UK at the beginning of the 21st century. It notes that more women now work than in the past 100 years, many working part-time when they have children, while more men have flexible work arrangements. It also discusses full-time and part-time work statistics for both men and women, maternity and childcare policies, unpaid domestic work, and flexible working arrangements.

1. Work and
NFPI FACTSHEET 3
The Family Today
An at-a-glance Guide
At the beginning of the 21st century, more women work in paid Seventy-seven per cent of lone fathers and 57 per cent of lone
employment than at any time during the last one hundred years. mothers were working in 2002. ______________________________ bo
The majority of women spend a period working part-time when
In 2002, 16 per cent of workless households had dependent
they have children. More men have flexible working patterns
and more employers have adopted family friendly work practices.
children living in them, compared to 19 per cent in 1992. _______ bo
Both men and women are more likely to change jobs or careers
over a lifetime. Part-time work
Six million people worked part-time in 2002, of which five
Full-time work million were women. ______________________________________ bo
Eighty-four per cent of men were working in 2002, compared to 40 per cent of men who work part-time do so because they do
89 per cent in 1984. ______________________________________ bo not want a full-time job. ___________________________________ 8
Seventy-three per cent of women were working in 2002, In 1997 two thirds of mothers with children under five were
compared to 67 per cent in 1984. ___________________________ bo working part-time. ________________________________________ 3
Fifteen million men were in employment in 2002, with 11 million 80 per cent of women who work part-time do so because they do
of these in full-time employment. ___________________________ bo not want a full-time job. ___________________________________ 8
Fathers in the UK work the longest hours in Europe – an average The International Labour Organisation predicts that in just over
of 48 hours a week for those with children under 11 – and earn 10 years 80 per cent of all women in western countries, including
on average two thirds of the family income. ___________________ 4 the UK, will combine employment with being a parent. __________ 7
Women work an average of 40 hours a week – the highest rate for The number of lone parents in full or part-time work has
women in the European Union. ______________________________ 9 increased from 44 per cent in 1997, to 51 per cent in 2001,
although lone parents with children under five are less likely to
In 1999, three quarters of women in the UK, living in a couple
(married or cohabiting) and of working age, were employed. ______ 1 work than mothers living as part of a couple. __________________ bl
Thirteen million women were in employment in 2002, with six
million of these being in full-time employment. ________________ bo Flexible working
Twenty per cent of women with dependent children work full-time. 8 As of April 2003 parents of children aged under six or disabled
children aged under 18 have the right to apply to work flexibly,
Fifty-six per cent of women whose youngest child was under five and their employers will have the duty to consider these requests
were economically active in 2002. ___________________________ bo seriously. ________________________________________________ bs
Around three quarters of women whose youngest child is aged Almost two thirds of working families contain a parent who works
between 16 and 18 work. __________________________________ 9 outside the traditional Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 work pattern.
Fifty-two per cent of lone parents were in paid work in 2002, _______________________________________________________ bm
compared to 44 per cent in 1997. ___________________________ bp Around half of all employees make use of at least one flexible
Forty-five per cent of women work over 40 hours a week. ________ bq working arrangement. The most common of these is part-time
working, accounting for 27 per cent of all employees. ___________ br
Forty-three per cent of all employees are parents with children
under the age of 19. ______________________________________ br Eleven per cent of women and eight per cent of men worked
flexi-time hours in 2000. ___________________________________ bt
Thirty per-cent of men work over 50 hours a week. ______________ bq
Seven per cent of women and one per cent of men worked term-
Forty-two per cent of women of working age had dependent time patterns in 2000. _____________________________________ ck
children. ________________________________________________ bo
Forty-four per cent of women with pre-school children were not
working and 36 per cent were working part-time. _______________ bo
In 2002, 79 per cent of women whose youngest child was aged
between 11 and 15 were in work in 2002. _____________________ bo

2. NFPI FACTSHEET 3 page 2 of 3
Unpaid work The National Childcare Strategy was launched in May 1998 and
aims to provide childcare places for children up to 14 years (or
Women spent nearly three hours a day on average on housework 16 years for children with special needs) in every area. __________ 6
compared to one hour and 40 minutes spent by men. Since 1997, 1.3 million children have benefited from new
Women also spent more time looking after children childcare places. All four year-olds are guaranteed free part-time
than men. _______________________________________________ bo nursery education, with 88 per cent of three year-olds now
having a place. ___________________________________________ cn
Fifteen per cent of female employees and 11 per cent of male
employees had responsibilities caring for another adult. Around 12 per cent of parents took parental leave in 1999. The _________ bk
12 per cent of women and 10 per cent of men had taken time off Workplace Employee Relations Survey suggests twenty-eight per
work to look after someone other than their children. cent of employees (in workplaces with at least 25 employees)
_______________________________________________________ ck have access to parental leave. ______________________________ ck
Sixty-three per cent of three and four year olds in the United
Maternity & childcare Kingdom were attending school in 2002 compared to 21 per cent
in 1970. ________________________________________________ bo
Female employees are entitled to 26 weeks maternity leave,
during which they receive 90 per cent of average pay for the first In 2003, pre-school and playgroups cost £3 to £5 a session,
six weeks and £100 a week for the remaining 20 weeks. _________ cm which is sometimes payable a half term in advance. The typical
cost for an after school club is £34 for 15 hours a week. _________ bq
Parental leave gives both parents more time with their young
children. The leave is 13 weeks per parent per child up until a Holiday clubs can cost from £40 to £150 a week in 2003. _________ bq
child’s 5th birthday and is usually unpaid. This leave is also There is one childcare place for every seven children under the
available to parents who adopt a baby. _______________________ cm age of eight in 2003. ______________________________________ bq
The numbers of women aged 35 – 39 having a baby doubled in There is only one subsidised childcare place for every fourteen
the 1980s and 1990s. _____________________________________ 2 children under three living in poverty. ________________________ bq
Projections suggest that one in four women born in 1972 will be In 1981 dads with a partner in full-time employment spent an
childless at age 45. _______________________________________ 2 average of 17 hours a week with their children; by 1997 the
Fifty-one per cent of mothers took 18 weeks or less maternity equivalent group were putting in 23 hours of time with their
leave. Sixty per cent said they would have taken more but were children each week. _______________________________________ bq
constrained, mainly by financial considerations. ________________ cl
In a study, 42 per cent of fathers who had taken time off around
Finding out more about the
the time of birth of a child said they had received paid paternity family and work
leave. __________________________________________________ cl
This factsheet summarises the key facts about work and family
Nearly half of all parents of pre-school children use day-care in
life in the UK today in an at-a-glance format. Most of the
term-time. _______________________________________________ 2 information included comes from government sources or
Nearly one in five pre-school children are looked after by relatives. 5 charitable foundations and voluntary organisations. The
government review of Parents and Work has produced new up-
Twenty-eight per cent of children aged three to five were
to-date information to complement the partial picture that
enrolled in playgroups or nurseries in the private or
voluntary organisations the Maternity Alliance are able to
voluntary sector. __________________________________________ bo provide.
11 per cent of pre-school children are cared for by a registered
childminder, a friend or a neighbour. _________________________ 5
Seventy per cent of working women with dependent children
have informal arrangements for all or part of their childcare. _____ bn
Nearly a third of all children aged 4-13 use care after school. _____ 2
Five per cent of workplaces offer nursery places and five per cent
of employers provide help towards childcare costs. ______________ bq
The typical cost of a full-time nursery place for a child under two
in 2003 is £128 a week, more than £6,650 a year;
up 6.7 per cent in the last year. _____________________________ bq
The typical cost of a full-time place with a childminder for a
child under two in 2003 is £118 a week or nearly £6,200 a year. __ bq

3. NFPI FACTSHEET 3 page 3 of 3
References bs Department for Trade and Industry (2003) Flexible Working: the
right to request. Online at http://dti.gov.uk/er/individual/flexible-
1 Office for National Statistics. (2000) Annual Abstract of Statistics pl516.htm
2000. Norwich: The Stationery Office.
bt Office for National Statistics (2000) Labour Force Survey.
2 Office for National Statistics. (2000) Britain 2000 The Official Norwich: The Stationery Office.
Yearbook of the United Kingdom. Norwich: The Stationery Office.
ck Women and Equality Unit (2002) Key Indicators of Women’s
3 Office for National Statistics. (1997) Labour Force Survey. Position in Britain. Norwich: The Stationery Office.
Norwich: The Stationery Office.
cl Department for Trade and Industry (2000). Work and Parents:
4 Lewis, C. Foundations: Fathers and Families in the UK. York: Joseph Competitiveness and Choice. Norwich: The Stationery Office.
Rowntree Foundation.
cm Maternity Alliance (2003) Online http://
5 Office for National Statistics. (1998) Living in Britain: Results www.maternityalliance.org.uk/info.htm
from the 1998 General Household Survey. Norwich: The Stationery
Office. cn Prime Minister’s Office (2003) National Childcare Strategy. Online
at http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/page1430.asp
6 Maternity Alliance (2000) Maternity Action, Maternity Alliance
Newsletter, Winter 2000
7 New South Wales Department of Industrial Relations Briefing, 2000
8 Office for National Statistics (2000) Social Trends 30. Norwich:
The Stationery Office.
9 Office for National Statistics Social (2001) Social Trends 31.
Norwich: The Stationery Office.
bk Department for Trade and Industry (2000) Work and Parents.
Norwich: The Stationery Office.
bl National Council for One Parent Families (2001) Lone Parents
and Employment. London: National Council for One Parent Families.
bm Daycare Trust (2001) Thinking Big: Childcare for All. London:
Daycare Trust.
bn Department for Education and Employment (2000) Parents
Demand for Childcare. Norwich: The Stationery Office. The National Family and Parenting Institute (NFPI) is an
independent charity which works by researching the concerns of
bo Office for National Statistics (2003) Social Trends 33. Norwich:
families and the support available, trialling new ways of providing
The Stationery Office.
support to families, bringing together organisations and knowledge,
bp National Council for One Parent Families (2003) One Parent influencing policy makers, providing information direct to families,
Families Today: the facts. London: National Council for One Parent and running public campaigns. You can find out more about the NFPI
Families. by visiting the website at www.nfpi.org.
bq Daycare Trust (2003) Online at http//www.daycaretrust.org.uk/
This is the third in a series of fact sheets about family life in the UK
Childcare Facts.
today. All information included was correct at the time of printing.
br Department for Trade and Industry (2001) About Time: Flexible
Working. Norwich: The Stationery Office. Factsheet 3 October 2003 (3rd edition)
National Family and Parenting Institute
430 Highgate Studios
53-79 Highgate Road
London NW5 1TL
Tel: 020 7424 3460 Fax: 020 7485 3590
Email: info@nfpi.org Registered charity No 1077444