International Women’s Day 2025: the argument for work that works

Making work work

When I had my son in 2016 at the “geriatric” age of 42, I was shocked to realise three things. Firstly, that for women, returning to work after a break is unnecessarily hard. Secondly, that being a working parent could be so much easier if employers were willing to ditch some outdated ideas around presenteeism and productivity. And thirdly, that most of my friends already knew this because they had had their kids much earlier than me. I was embarrassed to realise that I hadn’t been paying much attention to their challenges on becoming mothers. Fast forward through a pandemic, and I created what is now an award-winning suite of women returners programmes, Making Work Work, with The Challenges Group. Since 2021, we have directly supported over 300 women. I also Founded Flexible Working Scotland, now a community of 22,000 looking to work flexibly, recruit flexibly and advocate for greater flexibility and quality at work. For this work, I was named as Scotland’s Flex Influencer in 2022.

Not everyone who wants or needs flexible working is a single parent, or even a parent at all. There are many reasons why the Monday-Friday 9-5 pattern might not work for an individual or their family. But for single parents, flexible working is often the only way they can access work at all.

Parental wellbeing in crisis

In their recent Modern Families Index UK Report 2025, Bright Horizons found that nearly one third of UK working parents and carers are “very stressed.”

The figure is higher for mums heading up a single parent household – 37% of them reported being very stressed. Bright Horizons found that 80% of parents surveyed who reported feeling very stressed are finding it hard to focus on work.

When we consider that around 90% of lone parent households are headed up by women, and women typically bear the lion’s share of caring responsibilities – within and outwith their own household – this means a lot of very stressed parents and carers battling to manage work and life.

As a society, we need to support the wellbeing of these parents. But there is a key role here for employers – not only as an ethical imperative, but from a perspective of productivity. Workers who are physically and mentally well and able to confidently manage their responsibilities inside and outside work, are more engaged and less sick. Happy workers are productive workers.

The case for flexible working

“Flexible working” means different things to different people and organisations. At its essence, flexible working is about when, where and how people contribute their best work. I prefer to call this work that works – it works for employer and employee and enables both to thrive.

For many people, a deviation from the traditional norm of 9-5, Monday to Friday in a fixed location enables them to work at all. Statistics suggest that as many as 2 in 5 people in Scotland can’t work at all without some form of flexible working. For many, it enables them to escape the trap of low-paid, part-time work which many mothers end up in.

“(I am) only able to work full time since remote / hybrid working became more standard. A degree of flex around school pick up times is useful, at least some days. I always make up the hours. As a single parent, no one else can do this wrap around childcare / lifts. Full time work is essential to both current financial commitments (for inclusion of the kids in community sports activities now they have aged out of registered childcare which attracts subsidies) and to be able to plan for making a contribution to future needs of the children regarding higher education. A culture based on results and teamwork rather than outputs is what works for me.”

Flexible Working Scotland member

Single parents’ commitments outside of work are non-negotiable. They cannot leave their children at the school gate while they finish off a piece of work. They cannot send a small child to a medical appointment alone. Without a partner or spouse, they often don’t have a support network who can take on these tasks and affordable, accessible childcare is simply not available in many localities.

Flexible Working is therefore key to economic integration and supporting people to earn an income and reduce dependency on benefits. And remote work is, unlike the claims of Lord Rose in a recent Panorama documentary, “real work.” But working parents often feel they can’t win. As one FWS member recently said in response to insensitive comments by the Head of Ofsted, who blamed parents working from home for a decline in school attendance, “Working parents get it in the neck from every direction – from employers and colleagues for having a family, and from the education system for having a job.”

Tips for employers

Employers are sometimes worried about offering flexibility to one person and opening a floodgate. However, like many measures designed to aid inclusion, flexible working is something which not everyone needs all of the time, but which is vital for those who do need it.

“My last employer was a civil service body and I was full time prior to having my daughter. My marriage broke down during my pregnancy and I remember having an overwhelming fear of how I would manage to work and support my child as a single parent. My work were excellent, I asked for 3 days per week which was granted with no issues. I already had flexi time so I was able to start later or finish earlier if there were ever any childcare issues.”

Flexible Working Scotland member

The first step is to speak to staff. Find out what their needs are without making assumptions. Generally parents aren’t looking to work from anywhere at any time. Employees typically want to be trusted to achieve their objectives and to not be penalised for having family commitments outside of work. Like so much in life, there is no quick fix, but an open conversation about the realms of the possible and any business constraints on potential variations on working patterns will help both sides better understand each other’s concerns.

Leaders need to set the tone. But managers need to be equipped to manage team members they may not be able to see face-to-face all the time. This may involve training and regular check-ins to see how things are going.

Over time, roles can be designed with flexibility in mind and recruitment campaigns can be explicit about what is on offer. It is worth acknowledging that some roles are hard to make flexible, for example customer-facing roles. However, in those roles, having some say over their working pattern (for example, being able to finish early for an appointment, or being able to swap a shift with a colleague) can help staff manage their (work)life blend.

“If it wasn’t for my employer’s flexibility and trust, I would be unable to earn what’s needed to support myself and my son (age 8) as I am a single parent. I have two employed jobs, one that runs Mar-Jun each year as a project, the other permanent and one-two days a week. I am also a self employed artist. I fit my work commitments around my child and my own wellbeing, for example exercise or meeting friends for a run.”
Flexible Working Scotland member

Work that works

There is no doubt that flexible working is a magnet for talent. People leave when it is taken away, and for many job seekers – particularly those with caring commitments – it is the most important criterion in their search – above salary and job title.

Flexible working is an enabler of equity, diversity and inclusion. Without it, many people, especially women and especially single parents, can’t access work at all. When the availability of flexible work is limited, single parents and other women get trapped in low-paid, part-time roles beneath their skills, aspirations and potential.

The benefits of diverse teams are well-documented. But diverse teams are not recruited and retained on the basis of an assumption that everyone contributes their best work in the same way.

Staff feel included when they can bring their authentic self to work. When they don’t have to work like they aren’t a parent or when they don’t have to pretend that everything is fine when it isn’t. Again, the correlation between belonging, engagement and productivity has been proven.

Flexible working isn’t a sop for single parents. It’s not something to be offered begrudgingly. It is an essential tool for employers to leverage loyalty, engagement and productivity from their staff, no more so than for single parents. This seems like a good reason to #AccelerateAction on work that works.