Welfare to work hampered by lack of qualifications among lone mothers

The study, using data from a government-funded survey which followed 900 lone mothers over a five-year period, confirms that finding paid work is a highly effective means of reducing family hardship. But it warns that mothers who move into low-paid jobs supplemented by Family Credit and other 'in work' benefits find it much harder to escape from the welfare system altogether because of poor qualifications.

More than half the mothers surveyed had no qualifications at all - and only one in ten held any kind of higher academic or professional qualifications. Yet the research team, from the Policy Studies Institute, found that:

• Mothers with even the lowest GCSE pass grades not only found it easier to obtain jobs but also earned hourly wages that were an average 20 per cent higher than the earnings of those who were wholly unqualified;
• The hourly earnings of lone mothers with further or higher qualifications were between a half and two-thirds greater than the average for those who were unqualified;
• Those who had undergone any training relating to their current job earned an average 15 per cent more than those who had received no relevant training;
• Lone mothers with qualifications were more likely to increase their earnings over time - eventually becoming financially self-sufficient. Unqualified mothers were more likely to be unemployed on Income Support or trapped in low pay supplemented by Family Credit.

The researchers found little evidence that women preferred to live on Income Support rather than work. However, the combination of caring alone for young children with low levels of qualification and work experience created a barrier to entering paid work that many women found impossible to cross.

Lone mothers who were already experiencing financial hardship when the survey began were especially unlikely to get jobs during the next four years. This suggested that squeezing the benefit entitlements of lone mothers who failed to find jobs would prove counter-productive if made part of a welfare to work initiative.

In-work benefits
The study found that Family Credit - payable to low paid parents working 16 or more hours a week - had both increased the chances of lone mothers getting work and reduced the chances of their leaving employment. In particular, the benefit enabled women to choose a balance between work and time spent caring for children. Many lone mothers preferred to work relatively short hours, allowing them more time at home and low childcare costs, rather than attempt to maximise their weekly earnings.

However, mothers receiving Family Credit were found to have average weekly earnings that were around a quarter below those that might have been expected given their age, qualifications and experience. Moreover, those mothers who were claiming Family Credit when the survey began in 1991 were still earning substantially reduced wages in 1995.

Michael White, a Senior Fellow at the PSI and co-author of the report, said: "It does seem that the ability of lone mothers to prosper in work is constrained once they have entered jobs where there is no training and their low wages entitle them to Family Credit. A decision to move into low-paid work is still likely to be to the family's advantage in the short-term, but in the longer-term there is cause for concern."

He added: "If the aim of a 'Welfare to Work' policy is to enable lone mothers to become financially self-sufficient, then this study demonstrates the need for measures that will carry on where Family Credit leaves off. Providing further education and training opportunities - with appropriate childcare available - would be an especially effective way of improving employment opportunities for mothers and lifting them off benefits."