The Rt. Hon. Patricia Hewitt, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Cabinet Minister for Women

Keynote Speech, Father's Direct, 'Working with Fathers' Conference

Ten years ago, I gave what I think was the first public lecture on fatherhood in Britain. In those days, fathers were almost entirely absent from the debate about families – except in their role as absent fathers who had to be chased for money by the Child Support Agency.

Today, we have woken up to the fact that children do best when they have the love and practical support of both their parents, whether or not their parents are living together. The attendance here today – nearly 1000 delegates – reflects the fact that a modern family policy has to include policies for fathers as well as mothers.

Last Friday, in my constituency surgery, I saw a young woman who’s expecting her first baby in August. She told me her employer was giving her six months’ off, paid, and another six months unpaid – and that she’d be going back to work part-time. (I couldn’t resist telling her that last year we’d changed the law to give her those rights – and I was thrilled to get a hug from her in return.)

The personal is political.

Talking to my constituent reminded me of that old feminist slogan – which I see was the title for the first session of your conference this morning.

But there’s a paradox here.

After all, what could be more intimate than finding a partner and starting a family? What could be more personal than working out how you’re going to manage, looking after children, earning a living, even finding a bit of time for yourself?

No wonder each family feels they’re having to find their own solutions – personal answers to personal problems.

But the personal choices that we each make – including the decision whether and when to become a parent - depend so much upon what society makes possible – or impossible.

It’s much harder in a country like the United States – where maternity leave only arrived with the Clinton Administration, and even then it’s only 12 weeks and all unpaid.

It’s much easier in the Scandinavian countries with childcare as much part of the social fabric as our National Health service, and paid time off for fathers as well as mothers.

And it’s not surprising that Sweden is one of the few European countries where birth rates are rising.

So parenthood is an entirely personal choice – but it’s also a political challenge.

Politicians don’t always find it easy to talk about families.

Traditional Tories think women should stick with traditional roles – and stay home when children are young.

And in our desire to help lone parent families out of poverty, and make sure women get a fair deal in the workplace, we’ve sometimes given the impression that the sooner a mother goes back to work, the better.

So let me spell out what I believe to be the foundation of a modern family policy.

It is not government’s job to tell parents how to lead their lives.

Parents know for themselves what’s best for them and their children.

It is government’s job to help. Not to impose one-size-fits-all policies, but to give parents more choice by giving them more support. Not dictating government, but enabling government.

Ask mothers how they want to look after their young children – and most say they want to do it themselves, or share it with their partner, or get some help from a grandparent. Today’s fathers are doing far more childcare – and all the evidence is that they’d like to do more still.

Those parents need government’s help – so they can reduce their hours of work, or take a break. Mothers need to know that, if they do take time off, they won’t be condemned to a less-skilled job, lower pay and a lower pension for the rest of their lives. Fathers need to know that they won’t be written off or laughed at if they say they want to share the care of their children.

Other families need childminders and day-care, particularly as the children get older.

They need government’s help too – to make sure there’s enough good quality childcare that parents can afford.

Some want a bit of both.

And we’ve started to deliver both.

In our first term, we began investing in childcare.

Since 1997, more than 920,000 new childcare places have been created, benefiting over 1.6 m children

524 Sure Start local programmes are now up and running

We have reformed the ways in which the tax and benefit system supports families with children and those on low incomes.

So that by 2004-05 financial support for children through tax credits, Child Benefit, and other benefits will have increased by £10.4 billion in real terms from its 1997 level. A rise of 72 per cent.

In our second term, we introduced the biggest ever package of legal changes to help parents balance work and family.

And today, we can celebrate the first anniversary of

paid paternity leave
the biggest increase to statutory maternity pay since it was introduced in 1948 and it increased again yesterday.
maternity leave doubled to a year
the right to request flexible working - for fathers, as well as mothers

Many of you helped us put those changes in place, including Fathers Direct.

We brought large and small businesses, trade unions, the Equal Opportunities Commission, family groups together to work out a package that they could all support.

And even then, we had the prophets of doom.

I’ve just re-read the press release from Ruth Lea when she was at the Institute of Directors. ‘Black Sunday’ she called it a year ago. Businesses would be threatened. Employers wouldn’t touch women of childbearing age.

The fact is we’ve got more people in work than ever before – 28.3 million. And more women than ever before are in work (13 million).

And today I can report the results of the first twelve months of our new laws – and, in particular, the new legal standards on family-friendly working.

In the last year, nearly a million parents have asked for a change in their working hours. That’s a quarter of all parents with children under 6.

Eight out of ten of those requests have been granted - by employers large and small. And another one out of ten were partly accepted, or a compromise reached.

We’ve cut by half the proportion of cases where the employer has simply refused to consider a request for flexible working.

Nine out of ten employers say they have no significant problems with the new right.

And seven out of ten said they would consider flexible working requests from all staff.

So with today’s survey showing 900,000 new requests this year - and with almost 800,000 of those accepted - this is a real success story.

Indeed, as more parents gain the confidence to use these new laws, and even more employers see the benefits to themselves as well as their employees, I believe that our working time reforms will stand alongside the national minimum wage in the help they give to Britain’s families.

Where do we go next?

So can we stop there?

Of course not.

Too many parents are still struggling to balance work and family.

I have no doubt that, if we are re-elected, support for families and support for children, will be at the heart of our third term.

They are certainly at the heart of our programme for transforming public services. We want public services that are universal – but also personal. Available to all, but tailored to the needs of each.

That’s what we’re starting to create in the National Health Service. It’s the vision for our schools and for lifelong learning. And it has to be the same for families. Not one-size-fits-all, but services and laws that support parents’ choice.

I have no doubt, too, that, for many people, the most important issue at the next general election will be which political party really understands them and their families and can offer them the support they need. It’s a vote-changing issue : the personal is political indeed.

So today, as I report on what we have already achieved in our second term, I am also launching a debate about how we should approach our third term.

This is not some headlong rush into further legislation. I made a commitment that we will not make any changes to the 2003 employment laws for three years – and we will stick to that.

But I want to start the conversation now. We need a national debate - to hear what parents and employers are saying – and to build up our evidence base.

All of us here have our own ideas about priorities. We’d all like to wave a magic wand and have change happen overnight.

But we also know that we can’t do everything. And we certainly can’t do everything at once. Legislation is not the only way to achieve change. We can reinforce culture change by spreading best practice, supporting trade unions, encouraging role models and giving a lead in the public sector, as well as through legislation.

We’re going to have to face up to some tough choices. Let me mention a few of them that we’re discussing through the Labour Party’s Big Conversation.

We need to consider, for instance, how much we put taxpayers’ money into extending and subsidising childcare – and how much we put it into supporting parents at home, for instance by extending maternity pay to the second six months.

We need to consider how we support fathers who want to spend more time with their children. After all, only 1 in 10 fathers are asking for flexible working – compared with nearly four times as many mothers. So should we allow parents to divide the second six months’ of maternity leave between them? Or should we follow the Scandinavian example and create a ‘daddy month’ that only the father can take?

We also need to consider whether we go on giving priority to families with young children – or whether it’s time to extend what we’ve done for them to carers who are looking after elderly or disabled relatives.

And we need more men giving a lead. Isn’t it time we started asking men in senior positions, and not just women, how they combine a career with their family? Alan Milburn stepped out of the Cabinet to spend more time with his young family. Gordon Brown took paternity leave. We need more men at the top of business to do the same.

Through my department, we’re organising a series of round-tables around the country – just as we did before 2001.

And I welcome very much the contribution that Fathers Direct is making through the Charter for Father-Friendly Britain that you launched today.

So with today’s survey showing 900,000 new requests to work flexibly, this year this is a real success story.

Our partnership is working. With this success behind us, we can go on to achieve much more in making Britain better – for women, for men and above all, for our children.