SPEAKING of the childcare employment support measures announced Musab Hemsi, Director at Anderson Strathern and Chair of the Scottish Discrimination Law Association, has commented:
“Prohibitive childcare costs are a widespread reason why many women are unable to work, or work the hours to advance their careers.
“Paying childcare costs upfront, instead of the current refund system, has the potential to be a shrewd move in supporting families out of a cycle of debt and financial worry. The financial support appears conditional on claimants being supported by work coaches and skills bootcamps, to ease the effective transition back into work.
“Subject to efficient design of the scheme, I would be optimistic that certain sectors will seize the new opportunities announced today to utilise this support and attract working mothers to fill the continuing skills gap, and secure their wealth of transferable skills such as adaptability, resilience and flexibility for job market.”
Commenting on the Chancellor’s back to work drive Musab Hemsi, Director at Anderson Strathern and Chair of the Scottish Discrimination Law Association, added:
“Today’s announcement follows calls from the Chartered Management Institute last week who argued that the government should fund ‘help to hire’ bootcamps for small businesses to recruit and retain older workers, and findings by a House of Lords committee in December which found early retirement was the biggest driver of rising economic inactivity and labour shortages.
“The Government has recognised the increasing levels of economic inactivity may be linked to employees’ ill health, and provided intersectional Budget measures to create a supportive environment for over 50-year-old workers to return to the labour market.”
