Health
and education services still operate on the assumption that mothers stay at
home, according to a new government report.
The
report, Better Services, Better Working Lives, shows that the provision of key
public services are based on the model of women staying at home.
Despite
over three-quarters of NHS staff and two-thirds of teachers being women, these
services are only available during office hours or closed during lunch time,
claimed the report developed by minister Barbara Roche. The report found that
it was also much more likely to be women who drop children off at school and
take them to the doctors.
It
highlights best practice, which includes initiatives such as access to teachers
by e-mail, out-of-hours school clubs and self-rostering for nurses.
Roche
acknowledged the huge role of women in the provision of both services and
invited further comment to continue improvement.
She
said, "Women are an important barometer of how well we are delivering for
everyone. They are the biggest users and providers of health and education
services and are well placed to tell us what we need to, and in many cases
already are, delivering."
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