Rushanara Ali MP today vowed to continue fighting for childcare for single parents to enable them to get back into work, after an amendment tabled by her and Labour colleagues was defeated at Committee stage of the Government’s Welfare Reform and Work Bill.

The amendment tackled the real threat of single parents being caught in a ‘childcare trap’ as they look to re-enter the job market without access to proper childcare. It sought to guarantee parents access to ‘flexible, affordable and high-quality’ childcare in response to the Government’s proposals which require single parents to work before their children start school.

Rushanara Ali, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow said:

“There are few decisions for any parents more important than how to look after their children when at work – and how to balance work with meeting their responsibilities as parents. That’s why it’s absolutely vital that the Government matches its rhetoric on getting single parents back to work with adequate childcare.

“The Government’s proposals to force single parents back to work before their children reach school age does not recognise that a majority of single parents are already in work and many want to increase their hours – prevented only by the chronic shortage of affordable childcare places. If the government is serious about helping single parents get back to work, they would have accepted this amendment.”