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Government looks to create flexible jobs

More flexible jobs could be created as the government looks to work with businesses in order to meet the needs both of UK industry and of parents and families nationwide.

Secretary of state for work and pensions Yvette Cooper explains that parents can often feel torn between their desire to work and their commitments to their family.

"Helping people into jobs which also meet the needs of their family is a really important way to tackle poverty and help parents build a better life for their children," she says.

One of the steps being taken by the government is to make it an automatic requirement that employers submitting new vacancies to Jobcentre outlets are asked whether it can be offered on a flexible or part-time basis.

A particular area for guidance published by the Department for Work and Pensions recently has been the issue of working dads, who the department says can offer both economic and social benefits to companies that offer flexible vacancies.