Responding to today’s (Wednesday) announcement by the Prime
Minister that school re-openings will be delayed, TUC General
Secretary Frances O’Grady said:
“The safety of school staff and
children must always come
first.
“But the government needs to
wake-up to the huge stress working parents are under. Many are
losing out on hours and pay because of the lack of support
available to them.
“Ministers must urgently give all
parents the temporary right to furlough, plus at least
ten days’ paid parental leave each
year.
“It’s simply not sustainable to
expect mums and dads to work as normal, while looking after their
children and supervising
schoolwork.
“As ever this burden is falling
hardest on women and the low paid.
Without action now many risk being pushed out of the
labour market”
A TUC survey
of 52,000 working mums published earlier this month
revealed that 9 in 10 had experienced higher levels of anxiety
and stress levels during this latest
lockdown.
Nearly three-quarters (71%) of
those who had applied for furlough following the latest school
closures have had their requests turned
down.
The TUC says this situation results
from the UK’s failure to help families balance paid work and
childcare. It is calling on the government to
introduce:
-
A new temporary right to
furlough for groups who
cannot work because of coronavirus restrictions – both parents
and those who are clinically extremely vulnerable and required
to shield.
-
Ten
days' paid parental leave, from day one in
a job, for all parents.
Currently parents have no statutory right to paid
leave to look after their
children.
-
A right to flexible work
for all parents. Flexible
working can take lots of different forms, including having
predictable or set hours, working from home, job-sharing,
compressed hours and term-time
working.
-
An increase in sick pay
to at least the level of the real Living Wage, for everyone in
work, to ensure workers can
afford to self-isolate if they need
to.
-
Newly self-employed
parents to have access the self-employment income support
scheme
(SEISS).
