Workers and parents

Human evolution is a slow process. Twenty-five years ago, New Man took his first faltering steps towards active parenting following women's claim for equal pay at work and equal work at home. Nappy changing became a mark of honour.

Yet here we are, 2001, and still voices rise in horror at modest proposals to helphands-on fathers. The Prime Minister has talked of pay for fathers taking time off when their babies are born.

All the usual suspects raised their hands. The CBI feared small businesses would struggle. Institute of Director's policy head, Ruth Lea, was typically harsh, saying the variety of time people may take is "farcical" and the government is stifling the life blood out of business.

It's the same kind of over-reaction which greeted equal pay legislation in the 1970s and the minimum wage and the right to time off in the 1990s. Yet these measures had no ill effect on the economy. More women than ever are in the workforce; jobs have been created and unemployment is low; weekly hours worked by British men (for years the highest in Europe) fell.

It is true that there have been many new regulations in the last three years. Most reintroduced minimum standards systematically removed over the previous 20 years, including the abolition of wages councils, with minimum rates and rights to paid holiday, and increasing the service required to claim against unfair dismissal from six months to two years.

Britain was for a long time the most deregulated of advanced economies. As a result, from 1979 to 1997 the numbers in poverty rose threefold, from 5 to 14 million, 2 million claimed unemployment benefit and we had a poor record of job creation and growth.

The Green Paper, Work and Parents: competitiveness and choice is a refreshing read for organisations lobbying for a better work-life balance. It argues that providing help for parents is important for the economy and for the future. It will enhance competitiveness by keeping women's skills in the labour market whilst improving the quality of home life. It points out that many employers already provide a better deal than that being proposed, but the lowest paid are unlikely to benefit.

The sooner business embraces a culture where workers' rights are respected, the sooner they will reap the benefits of a labour market where balance and innovation win out over long hours and low pay.

© The New Review Jan/Feb 2001