Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 14
14
Paragraph: 57
Job vacancies remain depressed and women with caring responsibilities require targeted job search support.
Conclusion
Job vacancies remain depressed and women with caring responsibilities require targeted job search support. Maintaining mothers’ attachment to the labour market and increasing the opportunities to retrain for jobs in viable sectors is critical. DWP must expand and tailor its offer for mothers seeking employment, so that it encompasses retraining and re-skilling for jobs in the most viable sectors. This should be maintained for the duration of the pandemic as a minimum.
Paragraph Reference:
57
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
Accept. DWP Work coaches, including the additional 13,500 currently being recruited by the Department, are already actively engaged in helping everyone, including mothers, access the range of support on offer. Through the measures in A Plan for Jobs the Government has already significantly expanded the employment support offer for all newly unemployed people, including women. This includes job creation through the Kickstart scheme which can be accessed by young women at risk of becoming long-term unemployed aged 16–24 on Universal Credit and the expansion of the Sector-based Work Academy Programme which provides training and a work placement in a range of sectors and can be accessed by women of all ages. There is cross-government collaboration to identify and promote opportunities in sectors with immediate or growing demand for jobs and identify how UC claimants, especially those who may face additional barriers such as childcare, can best be supported to gain the skills needed to work in priority sectors, as well as increasing opportunities for workplace progression.