What do you think would make Scotland the best place in the world to bring up children?
What help do you think parents need?
OPFS believes it is important that policy recognises the strengths of lone parenthood and that the contribution that lone parents bring to society in caring for their children single-handed should be acknowledged. A national parenting strategy should recognise this as a unique challenge facing lone parents.
The Scottish Government wants to make Scotland the best place in the world to bring up children, and so they have put together a National Parenting Strategy to provide better support for parents. The Strategy was launched at the Parenting across Scotland conference on 3 October 2012, and Aileen Campbell MSP, the Minister for Children and Young People, talked about what Scottish Government plans to do to make sure that parents get the help they need when they need it.
What help do you think parents need? What do you think would make Scotland the best place in the world to bring up children?
We'd love to hear your thoughts. Tell us in a tweet (@opfs) using the hashtag #pas12 or post a comment below.
Its important that the issue of school holidays is brought up in relation to poverty, exclusion and working parents.
The very fact that my own children do not complete ONE month's education at any point across a 12 month year is not acceptable. The issue of school summer holidays reaching 7 weeks, Easter holidays being just over 2 weeks and Christmas being 3 weeks is totally ridiculous.
These constant holidays for children put a burden on parents aiming to go to work, parents trying to sustain work and parents wishing to get on in their careers. It drags us back , it means employers are put off us & overall means that childcare prices rocket when aftercare or summer clubs are needed.
This is 2013 and there is no reason at all that staff in schools and children using them should have off all the bank holidays ( schools are not banks) and all the other holidays as well as in-service days ( jolly, anyone) as they do. Our government has to take a look at the cost to parents, employers and the wider economy and stop this holiday culture.
Kids could have 4 weeks in the summer, 10 days at Christmas, half the bank holidays off and when its some staff in-service that is planned, the Gov education dept should subsidise the aftercare/childcare required OR actually have the training in the holidays for teachers instead.
Now there is a policy worth a chat. :-)
Louise i to am so glad to hear from someone else in the same sort of situation (however i take my hat off to you with 2 little ones and working, you must be exhausted) As for childcare over 5 years old true i have yet to experience this situation however my childminder alone has kids after school and holidays and again IRC help with the cost of this. I have alot of respect for stay at home mums and believe it is everyones porogitive to choose thier own path if they choose to enter employment or ro care 24 hours for thier children. That said unfortunately there are lone parents that choose not to work and make excuses not to as they simply have no intention of ever doing (or indeed have done) a days work and choose to have children to substitute an income from employment. Were it not for this section of people more help could be provided with a reward for working be it 6 hours a week or 50 which in turn would make it easier EVERYONE to enter employment by freeing funds for training and courses etc xx
It is not always excuses. Sometimes it is genuine reasons. What about a lone parent who has had to escape a violent partner and has ended up living in a hostel in those circumstances whether me you or anyone else likes it. A lone parent has other things on their mind beside work. We do not know what has happened in people's lives or what has lead people to where they are, so in my honest opinion no one has any right to judge. Also you are obviously very lucky that your child will go to people to enable you to go to work, some children will not go to anyone aside from their main carer. xx
I am a single parent and have been from my pregnancy and my child is now 2 years old. I have always worked throught tho i dropped hours from 37 per week to 34 when my child was born. Tax credits assist me to afford childcare by providing money toward the cost. I see no reason why single parents cannot enter employment. Yes it is hard and yes i am tired but ibelieve that this sets an example to my child that working and contributing to society is vital. This is what would make not only scotland but the whole of Britain better. Also to my thinking the more taxes that are collected in the pot then the more help can be given to everyone who needs it. x
Angela, I was surprised at the similar circumstances we appear to be in. I am a single mum to a 6 year old boy and 2 year old girl. I have been a single parent since I was 7 weeks pregnant with my daughter. I have no contact with or support whatsoever from my ex partner. I too have always been in full time employment and although it can be extremely tough balancing a full time job and home life with the kids, I really want to set the best example I can for my children. I'm very grateful for the assistance I receive from the Inland Revenue in relation to my childcare costs and find it difficult to accept the many "friends" I have who refuse to work as they say they can't afford childcare. They openly express their disdain for my choice to work when I can apparently "stay home and claim benefits". It was nice to come across your comment. It’s made me feel much better that there are other single mums out there working and being a good mum too! xx
Hi Angela. To be positive and encouraging to you I would like to say well done in going out and earning your own money. I agree also that working sets a good example to children. However that said though I think these rules working from when your child is 5 should apply to women with partners as well not just lone parents. That is another story though.
Now for the not so positive, Angela. You say you see no reason why lone parents can not work. However as your child is only 2 you have a lot of support with childcare. sorry if this comes across a a bit disrespectful as it is not my intent in anyway, but childcare facilities do not seem to be able see past children over the age of 5. A bit useless for anyone with a child over that age. I do fully accept the argument that children above that age are in school. However what about school holidays and no not every school does summer clubs and breakfast clubs. I suppose I am trying to say in a nut shell. It is fantastic that work is working for you, but we all have different circumstances and our children have different needs. Also you may be fine with childcare at the moment, but that may not be the case when your little one gets to 5. xx
Hi, I completely appreciate that everyone’s circumstances are different and whether you decide to stay home or go out to work is entirely each individual’s choice. I don’t believe that being a stay at home mum sets a negative example for children. It is just a different example. “Working” mums are probably envious of “stay at home” mums sometimes and vice versa! I just wanted to say that if you decided at some point that you wanted to work then go for it. Obviously I'm unaware of your location, however there are various organisations all over Britain which help with childcare for children of all ages. I personally am a single mum that works full time. I have a two year old in nursery and a six year old at school. I note your concern is in relation to childcare for children over 5yrs old. In my area alone, there are several out of school care services which care for children from 5yrs to 16yrs old. They take children to and from school and they also care for the children throughout each and every school holiday. If you meet the criteria for assistance from the Inland Revenue then they could well cover up to 70% of the childcare costs. I personally enjoy being in the workplace as well as being a mum and my kids love both nursery and out of school care. I feel we all gain from the extra interaction with the outside world! Good luck to you in whatever your future holds x
I think it will be very difficult to help single mothers in the future.just a quick glance at the comments section of this website and its easy to see that many parents are deeply hostile to any kind of change.some of the comments actually serve to reinforce negative stereotypes , when the government announced the benefits cap many working families were truly shocked that people on welfare were entitled to so much help, add to this a hostile media campaign which focused on immigrants who were living in mansion houses at the taxpayers expense. and of course the state of the economy, all of this has added up to create the perfect environment for hostility toward the out-group, the undeserving poor being perennial favourites. It is also evident, again from reading the comments that many claimants are extremely anxious and frightened by the coming reforms, this is understandable considering many of them may never have worked before.it is important to keep things in perspective,in regard to those parents with children over 5, the government does not expect them to do 12 hour shifts down the local coal mine. just a part time job will do , it could be just an hour a day cleaning, they will still be entitled to most if not all of there benefits, ironically the recession has created an explosion in part time work this and the fact that half of all single mums go to work means there really is no excuse not to go to work. . . er .. except of course for childcare. so I personally think we need to do all we can possibly do to help parents with the transition in to the workplace, central or local government subsidised childcare would be the most practical form of help to parents making the transition.it is also important for parents to understand the importance of work and to know what is expected of them from there new or prospective employers and from society in general who after all pay for there benefits.
A part time job will do, will it, Pepa. Have you not yet read up on universal credit, here goes then. Every job seeker or even people working part time will have to look for a vacancy for 35 hours a week when U.C born whether you have children or not or so I've been lead to believe. xxx
Expected hours
9.—(1) The expected number of hours per week in relation to a claimant for the purposes of determining any limitations on work search or work availability requirements is 35 unless some lesser number of hours applies in the claimant’s case under paragraph (2).
(2) The lesser number of hours referred to in paragraph (1) is—
(a)where—
(i)the claimant is a relevant carer, a responsible carer or a responsible foster parent; and
(ii)the Secretary of State is satisfied that the claimant has reasonable prospects of obtaining paid work,the number of hours, being less than 35, that the Secretary of State considers is compatible with those caring responsibilities;
(b)where the claimant is a responsible carer or a responsible foster carer for a child under the age of 13, the number of hours that the Secretary of State considers is compatible with their caring responsibilities for the child during the child’s normal school hours (including the normal time it takes the child to travel to and from school); or
(c)where the claimant has a physical or mental impairment, the number of hours that the Secretary of State considers is reasonable in light of the impairment.
The removal of the apartheid schooling system would be a great start. How anyone in Scotland in 2012 can promote children as young as 4 being separated and told they are different, is totally beyond me. If we continue on the same path as now, sectarian tensions will blight our future generations for centuries.
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