Terms of reference

According to the Office of National Statistics, in April to June 2019, 3 in 4 mothers with dependent children (75.1%) were in work in the UK. This compared with 92.6% of fathers with dependent children. Since 2000, fathers have consistently had a higher employment rate than men without dependent children.

During this period, the rate of mothers in employment has overtaken the employment rates of women without dependent children. Almost 3 in 10 mothers (28.5%) with a child aged 14 years and under said they had reduced their working hours because of childcare reasons. This compared with 1 in 20 fathers (4.8%).

Childcare challenges

The proportion of parents who faced an obstacle fulfilling responsibilities decreased as the age of the child increased; from 34.9% of parents whose youngest child was aged between 0 and 4 years to 20.4% of parents with a child aged 11 to 14 years.

Like other emergency services, policing presents childcare challenges which are beyond the scope of normal 9-5 provision. As a result, our policies and procedures need to be current and flexible to maintain a balance of all genders throughout the workforce.

Surveys of female police officers have revealed stark issues with the quality of treatment, knowledge and experience of line managers, and understanding of the demands of the job whilst starting and caring for a family. With the greatest loss of women from policing after the birth of their second child, maintaining experienced female officers and staff within forces is a challenge which is indivisible from sickness, flexible working and deployment/critical staff policies and procedures.

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