1. Main points

  • In April to June 2021, three in four mothers with dependent children (75.6%) were in work in the UK, reaching its highest level in the equivalent quarter over the last 20 years (66.5% in 2002).

  • Over 9 in 10 (92.1%) fathers with dependent children were employed in April to June 2021; this is an increase from 89.6% in 2002 but has plateaued in recent years.

  • The employment rate was higher for mothers than either women or men without dependent children and has been since 2017.

  • From 2020, in families where both parents are employed, it has become more common for both parents to work full-time, rather than a man working full-time with a partner working part-time.

  • In April to June 2021, 12.1% of parents reported that they mainly worked from home in their main job; mothers were more likely to report homeworking (13.4%) than fathers (10.7%).

  • More than half (57.7%) of families with only one child had both parents working full-time, compared with 39.5% of families with three or more children.

  • When asked about any special working arrangements, such as flexible or term-time hours, 33.3% of mothers reported an agreed special working arrangement in their job, compared with 23.6% of fathers.

  • In March 2022, employed women living with dependent children spent more time on unpaid childcare (an average of 84 minutes per day) and household work (an average of 169 minutes per day) than employed men living with dependent children (55 and 106 minutes per day, respectively).

  • In March 2022, employed women living with dependent children spent more time on all work combined (an average of 492 minutes per day working from home, working away from the home, on unpaid childcare and unpaid household work) than employed men living with dependent children (480 minutes per day).

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2. Employment rates for parents in the UK

In April to June 2021, three in four mothers (75.6%) were in work in the UK, reaching its highest level in the equivalent quarter over the last 20 years from 66.5% in 2002.

In the same period, 92.1% of fathers were employed. This has also increased from 89.6% in 2002 but has plateaued in recent years.

In 2021, employment rates for mothers and fathers were higher than for either men or women without dependent children. Around 7 in 10 (69.1%) of women without dependent children were in work in 2021; a slight increase compared with 67.4% in 2002. In comparison, the number of men employed without dependent children decreased slightly to 71.9% in 2021, from 73.8% in 2002.

The employment rate for fathers has been consistently higher than for men without dependent children. The employment rate for mothers has been higher than for women without dependent children since 2007 and higher than for men without dependent children since 2017. In 2021 the employment rate for mothers (75.6%) was greater than for women without dependent children (69.1%) and for men without dependent children (71.9%) (Figure 1).

The reasons for the differences in employment rates between men and women and those with and without dependent children are likely to be complex. However, we might expect to see higher rates of inactivity in men and women without dependent children as they may be more likely to fall into two inactivity groups: to be younger and still in education; or older and moving into inactivity owing to ill health or early retirement. Another factor to consider would be various parental support policies. For more information see the "Employed" section of our glossary.

While the proportion of employed mothers has increased over the period analysed, there are still considerably fewer mothers working than there are fathers. This could be because men in families are less likely to adjust their working arrangements than women. In our article looking at flexible working in the public sector, women were more likely than men to choose not to work full-time to spend more time with family.

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3. Parental employment rates by age of parent

Figure 2 shows that women with dependent children are least likely to be in employment when they are younger. In 2021, over half (54.3%) of mothers aged 16 to 24 years were in employment, which increases with the mother's age, up to age 49 years (69.3% aged 25 to 34 years, 78.7% aged 35 to 49 years). This could be because of parents working more as their children get older and enter primary and secondary education, making it easier for parents to enter or re-enter the workplace. It is also worth noting that in some circumstances lone parents can qualify for lone parent income support, which takes into account the age of dependent children. More information can be found in the Glossary.

However, the employment rate for mothers aged 50 to 64 years falls slightly to 77.5% showing that those aged over 50 years and still of working age are beginning to leave the workforce. Increases in employment rates are seen for women without dependent children up to 49 years (51.0% aged 16 to 24 years; 89.5% aged 25 to 34 years; 82.5% aged 35 to 49 years). Despite a higher peak, the employment rate falls for those aged 35 to 49 years before decreasing further to 66.6% for those aged 50 to 64 years. This shows that while mothers are less likely to be employed aged 25 to 49 years than women without dependent children, they are more likely to be working aged 50 years and over. A recent study explores the inactivity rates for those aged over 50 years since the start of the pandemic for men and women.

Fathers are more likely to be in employment regardless of age; however, the difference between groups is greatest for younger adults. Of fathers aged 16 to 24 years, 86.6% are in employment compared with 49.4% of men aged 16 to 24 years with no dependent children.

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4. Employment activity of parents based by the age of youngest dependent child

Almost half (49.0%) of mothers with a dependent child aged under one year reported that they were in full-time employment. However, they were more likely to be on maternity leave at this time (the Labour Force Survey classes maternity leave as "in employment"). Women whose youngest dependent child was aged between one and eight years were more likely to be in part-time employment than full-time employment.

The proportion of mothers working full-time generally increased with the age of the youngest child; 30.8% of mothers with a child aged one year worked full-time, compared with around half (49.2%) of mothers with the youngest child aged 18 years.

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5. Employment activity of mothers and fathers in a family

While looking at the employment rates of mothers and fathers separately provides a useful insight into their activity in the labour market, it is also important to look at how parents share their working lives around their family.

Lone Parent families

Nearly 7 in 10 (68.5%) lone parents were employed with over half of these employed full-time (51.8%) and under half employed part-time (48.2%). Over 3 in 10 (31.5%) lone parent families were not employed (inactive).

The employment rate for lone mothers was 67.1% in April to June 2021 compared with lone fathers at 80.1%.

The employment rate for lone mothers is at its highest as the age of the dependent child increases (47.8%, zero to two years compared with 77.7%, 16 to 18 years). Employment estimates for lone fathers should be treated with caution owing to small sample sizes.

Couple families

Couple families are defined as either married, civil partnered or cohabiting adults with dependent children. Almost three-quarters (73.9%) of these couple families had both parents in employment; 22.6% of couple families had one parent in employment and 3.4% where both parents were not employed (inactive).

Until 2020 the most common working arrangement for families where both parents worked was for a man to work full-time and the partner part-time. However, since 2020 the most common working arrangement has been both parents working full-time.

In April to June 2021, 50.4% of working families had both parents employed full-time; 44.1% where a man was employed full-time and their partner part-time; 2.6% where both partners were employed part-time, and 3.0% where a woman worked full-time and their partner part-time.

The way couple families structured their employment differed depending on the age of the youngest dependent child. Figure 5 shows that families whose youngest dependent child was aged between three and four years were most likely to have a father working full-time while their partner worked part-time (50.9%). In comparison, parents whose youngest dependent child was aged between 16 and 18 years were most likely to both be in full-time employment (55.9%).

The proportion of mothers with a youngest child aged zero to two years who are working full-time is likely to be influenced by mothers on maternity leave being classified as in employment, rather than being a true reflection of mothers' usual working hours.

The way parents structured their employment also differed depending on the number of dependent children in the family. Figure 6 shows that more than half (57.7%) of families with one child had both parents working full-time, compared with 39.5% of families with three or more children.

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6. Flexible working and parental status

When asked about any special working arrangements, 33.3% of mothers reported an agreed special working arrangement in their job, compared with 23.6% of fathers. For more detailed information, see Section 11: Glossary.

When looking at the types of arrangements in place, 14.5% of mothers worked flexible working hours compared with 12.3% of fathers. Nearly 1 in 10 (9.3%) mothers worked in jobs with term-time working compared with 1.9% of fathers.

Note: When comparing the working practices of men and women, it is important to consider variations owing to work sector. For example, a higher proportion of women work in the education sector where term-time working arrangements are more common.

Figure 8 shows that higher rates of term-time working were typically seen for mothers with a youngest dependent child at school aged from 5 to 18 years (10%, 5 to 10 years; 11.9%, 11 to 15 years; 12.1%, 16 to 18 years) compared with mothers whose youngest dependent child was aged four years or under (6.3%, zero to two years; 6.4%, three to four years). The proportion of fathers reporting term-time working appeared to be broadly unaffected by the age of their youngest dependent child.

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7. Homeworking and parental status

In April to June 2021, 12.1% of parents reported that they mainly worked from home in their main job.

The proportions of parents who reported that they worked mainly from home differed depending on the sex of the parent, with 10.7% of fathers reporting that they worked mainly from home compared with 13.4% of mothers. Our analysis has found that men are less likely to work in jobs that allow them to work from home. This may partly explain why men appear to be less likely to report mainly working from home in their main job.

Figure 9 shows that higher home working rates were typically seen for mothers with a youngest dependent child aged between three and four years (16.4%). The number of mothers homeworking decreased as the age of the youngest child increased; 14.3% of mothers with primary-aged children (aged 5 to 10 years) and 12.2% with secondary school-aged children (aged 11 to 15 years) reported mainly working from home. This fell to 11.3% for mothers with children aged 16 to 18 years. Of mothers with children aged zero to two years, 12.8% reported mainly working from home. However, this may be influenced by mothers on maternity leave being classified as in employment, preventing a true reflection of mothers' usual working hours. The homeworking rates for fathers was largely unaffected by the age of their youngest dependent child.

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8. Time use

For the first time, we have used the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Time Use Survey data to see how families spent their time during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Using data from 2015 as a baseline for pre-coronavirus pandemic activity, we can see how the average time families spent working from home, on unpaid childcare, and on household work has changed since 2015. We have included estimates from March and April 2020 when lockdown measures meant that social and work activity was limited, and March 2022 when most restrictions had been lifted (Figure 10).

Figure 10: A look at how mothers and fathers spend their time on work and household activities

2014 to 2015 in Great Britain, March and April 2020 and March 2022 in the UK

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  1. Working (overall) refers to total paid work including working from home and working away from home.

Working and working from home

The average time men and women living with dependent children spent working decreased during the first coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown in March 2020, but now exceeds the time spent working in 2015. In March 2022, women with dependent children spent an average of 43 minutes more working each day than they did during 2014 to 2015, and men with dependent children, 22 minutes more daily.

For those in employment in 2014 to 2015, women with dependent children spent an average of 17 minutes per day working from home, and men with dependent children spent an average of 18 minutes a day working from home. In March to April 2020, this increased to an average of 51 minutes a day for women with dependent children and 67 minutes a day for men with dependent children. This was at a time when the UK had gone into the first coronavirus lockdown, with many workplaces closed. However, some people may have been unable to work because of furlough or organisations having not adapted their systems for remote working.

The trend towards homeworking has continued into the post-coronavirus pandemic period. In March 2022, women recorded an average of 64 minutes working from home and men, 118 minutes. Our Homeworking hours, rewards and opportunities in the UK: 2011 to 2020 article explores the hours worked from home and its impact on pay, sickness and other factors.

Unpaid childcare and housework

In March and April 2020, schools and nurseries in the UK were only open for the children of key workers, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, increasing the childcare burden placed on many parents. In March and April 2020, women in employment who had dependent children recorded 17% more time on unpaid childcare each day (an average of 102 minutes per day) than in 2014 to 2015. For men with the same status, it increased more, by 90% (an average of 89 minutes per day).

By March 2022, employed women with dependent children spent an average of 84 minutes on childcare, a similar amount to before the coronavirus pandemic. Men with dependent children continued to provide 16% more unpaid childcare than in 2014 to 2015, recording an average of 55 minutes per day. However, because of the long time between the measured periods, it is not possible to identify if this is a result of the coronavirus pandemic or of a longer-term shift in behaviour.

There was no substantial change in the amount of time that men and women in employment who were living with dependent children spent on unpaid household work across the three periods analysed. However, women consistently recorded significantly more minutes of unpaid household work than men. When considering all paid and unpaid work time, mothers spent more time working than fathers.

In March 2022, employed women with dependent children spent slightly more time on all work combined (an average of 492 minutes per day working from home, working away from home, on unpaid childcare and unpaid household work) than employed men with dependent children (480 minutes per day).

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9. Cost of living

It is important to consider the impact of the recent rising cost of living on families. Recent analysis published in our article, Worries about the rising cost of living, Great Britain: April to May 2022, found that parents with younger children are more likely to be worried about the rising cost of living than adults without dependent children. It found that 9 in 10 parents who lived with a dependent child aged zero to four years felt worried about the rising costs of living. This built on analysis drawn from our Opinions and Lifestyle Survey that found that a greater proportion of parents with dependent children (41% with a dependent child aged between zero and four years and 40% of parents with a dependent child aged five years and over) reported their household could not afford an unexpected expense compared with non-parents or parents not living with a dependent child (25%).

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10. Families and the Labour Market data

Families and the labour market, UK
Dataset | Released 22 July 2022
Supporting data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) on maternal and paternal employment, broken down by age, sex, number of dependent children, family type, skill level and employment type.

Families and the labour market, England
Dataset | Released 22 July 2022
Supporting data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and Annual Population Survey (APS) on maternal and paternal employment, broken down by age, sex, number of dependent children, family type, skill level and employment type.

Families and the labour market, Wales
Dataset | Released 22 July 2022
Supporting data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) on maternal and paternal employment, broken down by age, sex, number of dependent children, family type, skill level and employment type.

Families and the labour market, Scotland
Dataset | Released 22 July 2022
Supporting data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) on maternal and paternal employment, broken down by age, sex, number of dependent children, family type, skill level and employment type.

Families and the labour market, Northern Ireland
Dataset | Released 22 July 2022
Supporting data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) on maternal and paternal employment, broken down by age, sex, number of dependent children, family type, skill level and employment type.

Families and the labour market: Trends in the employment activity of mothers and fathers
Dataset | Released 22 July 2022 Trends in employment activity by family type, between April and June 2012 and April to June 2021

Families and the labour market: Time use
Dataset | Released 22 July 2022
Estimates for time spent by employed parents carrying out their daily tasks

Families and the labour market: flexible and homeworking
Dataset | Released 22 July 2022
Special working arrangements for men and women living with and without dependent children by age of youngest child

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11. Glossary

Parent status

Respondents in this release are classified as parents if they have dependent children living with them in the same household. This may also include children who are being cared for by someone other than their birth mother or father (for example, guardians or foster parents). This analysis does not include parents whose children do not live with them, or parents whose children usually reside elsewhere (for example, with a former partner).

This release refers to mothers and fathers, by which we mean mothers and fathers who have a dependent child living in their family.

Economically inactive

People not in the labour force (also known as economically inactive) are not in employment but do not meet the internationally accepted definition of unemployment because they have not been seeking work within the last four weeks and/or they are unable to start work in the next two weeks. The economic inactivity rate is the proportion of people who are not in the labour force.

Employed

Employment measures the number of people in paid work or who had a job that they were temporarily away from (for example, because they were on holiday or off sick). This differs from the number of jobs because some people have more than one job. The employment rate is the proportion of people who are in employment. A more detailed explanation can be found in our guide to labour market statistics methodology article.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition of employment includes those who worked in a job for at least one hour and those temporarily absent from a job. Workers furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), or who are self-employed but temporarily not in work, have a reasonable expectation of returning to their jobs after a temporary period of absence. Therefore, they are classified as employed under the ILO definition.

When comparing the employment rates of men and women with and without children, it is important to remember these are broad groups with varying characteristics. For example, men and women without dependent children may include more adults in full-time education, or who are inactive for other reasons. The age of parents at the birth of their child could also affect employment rates. The average age of first-time mothers in England and Wales was 30.7 years in 2020, while the average age of all fathers was 33.7 years, as shown in our Birth characteristics in England and Wales: 2020 release.

Statutory maternity leave and pay for mothers, shared parental leave was introduced in 2015.

Two-year-olds can receive childcare and free early education when meeting certain criteria. Parents have also been able to claim financial support for looking after their children in certain circumstances (including Child Benefit, tax credits and Tax-Free Childcare). Since 2017, working parents in England have been able to claim up to 30 hours' free childcare for three- and four-year-olds, with similar schemes in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Family type (Couple and lone parent)

A mother or father in a couple is a married, civil partnered or cohabiting adult with at least one dependent child, who lives at the same address. Lone parents are lone mothers or fathers living with at least one dependent child.

Full- and Part-time employment

Full-time and part-time employment is self-defined on the Labour Force Survey. This applies to the number of hours a person aged 16 and over in employment in the week before data collection.

Dependent children

Dependent children are those living with their parent(s) and are either aged under 16 years or aged 16 to 18 years and in full-time education. Children aged 16 to 18 years who have a spouse, partner or child living in the household are not classified as dependent children. Further information on how families are defined, including definitions for dependent and non-dependent children, can be found in our Families and households statistics explained publication.

Working away from home

Working away from home includes working in locations outside of the home, such as undertaking taxi or delivery services, or working from an office.

Working from home

Working from home includes working from home, selling things online or showing people around your home to sell it.

Unpaid childcare

Unpaid childcare includes unpaid feeding, washing, dressing or preparing meals for children; reading to children, playing with children or helping children with homework (or home-schooling); and supporting, comforting or cuddling children.

Special working arrangements

Special working arrangements includes Flexible working hours (Flexitime), Annualised hours contract, Term time working, Job sharing, Nine day fortnight, four and a half day week, Zero hours contract and On-Call Working. Part-time working is not classed as a special working arrangement.

Occupational data in ONS surveys

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has identified an issue with the collection of some occupational data in a number of our surveys, including the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and Annual Population Survey (APS), which are used in the production of the Labour Market publication. While we estimate any impacts will be small overall, this will affect the accuracy of the breakdowns of some detailed (4-digit Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)) occupations, and data derived from them. Although the majority are unaffected, we are urging caution in the interpretation of these detailed data as we resolve the issue. None of our headline statistics, other than those directly sourced from occupational data, are affected and you can continue to rely on their accuracy. This issue does not affect Census 2021 or the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey in any way. For more information, see our statement on occupational data in ONS social surveys

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12. Data sources and quality

This release uses data from the Labour Force Survey and the Time Use Survey to look at trends and provide insight into the employment rates and employment practices of parents with dependent children in the labour market in 2021. The analysis is based on men and women aged 16 to 64 years in the UK. In addition, for the first time, we have included analysis of parents' flexible working and homeworking and time use data from the Office for National Statistics' (ONS) Time Use Survey to look at how working parents spent their time on childcare, homeworking and household labour during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

Estimates have been produced using the April to June Labour Force Survey (LFS) household dataset in 2021, the January to December 2021 Annual Population Survey (APS) household datasets and Wave 4 of the ONS Time Use Survey in 2022.

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a large representative survey of households in the UK. The LFS performance and quality monitoring reports provide data on response rates and other quality measures.

Data on characteristics are taken from the Annual Population Survey (APS), which uses data combined from two waves of the main Labour Force Survey, with data collected on a local sample boost.

How we measure time in this release

Times are taken from the two most recent time use studies in the UK: the 2014 to 2015 UK Time Use Study covering the UK and the 2020 to 2022 Office for National Statistics (ONS) Online Time Use Study, which covered Great Britain for 2020 to 2021, and United Kingdom for 2022. The 2020 to 2022 study was carried out exclusively for adults aged 18 years and over, both under coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions (28 March to 26 April 2020, 5 September to 11 October 2020, and 20 March to 28 March 2021) and in 12 to 20 March 2022 when restrictions had mostly eased. These studies can be used to understand the likely impact of the coronavirus pandemic and associated restrictions on what people in Great Britain are doing with their time.

The 2014 to 2015 study shows what people did with their time before the coronavirus pandemic; however, it is important to recognise that changes between the two studies could be unrelated to the coronavirus pandemic and instead reflect longer term changes in society.

The measures of time in this article are made up of activities that have been recorded by respondents in a time-diary study. Respondents can record doing more than one activity at a time, but for comparability, activities that respondents regarded as their main activity were used here.

Throughout the article, time is reported in average minutes per day. These averages are useful as they give a good indication of a group's time taken up by a type of activity, but it should be recognised that this average will include people that do not engage in certain types of activities on a given day. Therefore, it should not be confused with the average amount of time taken to do an activity, as there are differences between the two definitions.

Weighting

All analysis using the LFS and APS this year has been based on recently revised data from the LFS and APS, which have been reweighted using the latest population estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Therefore, analysis in this release may differ slightly to previous releases, including the headline Labour Market release. The household dataset will be reweighted and released over the summer.

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Contact details for this Article

Rhian Murphy, Matt Dennes, Ben Harris
policy.evidence.analysis@ons.gov.uk
Telephone: +44 300 0671543