BACK TO WORK
Come back to nursing Little wonder Ola Idowu went into nursing having watched her mother Felicia care devotedly for her patients in Nigeria. Not only did she pass on an enduring passion for the profession to her daughter, she instilled a work ethic Ola now wants her son to witness. And these are the reasons she has returned to nursing. Felicia passed away before seeing her daughter graduate with her BSc nursing degree, before seven-year-old Tami was born and before the 33-year-old became a treasured member of the team at the Trevor Gibbens Unit in Maidstone where her skills, experience and heart for mental health have been making a difference for the past year. She said: “It has been great. If I said I didn’t initially feel guilty, I would be lying. But Tami was six, at school and I reached a place where I thought I can do this. To show him the pride I have in my work is important.
“It seemed a little daunting and I was thinking would I remember, but it was like riding a bike. You never lose that love for caring.” Ola’s husband Deji also works for the NHS as an IT contractor. The flexibility shown by both their managers means they can share all the roles and responsibilities that come with family life. Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust would love to hear from previously-registered RMNs and RNLDs. It runs the Return to Practice programme in conjunction with Canterbury Christ Church University. The next course starts in January 2020 with the deadline to apply in October. Like Ola, you could look to come back into the workplace now on flexible hours as a healthcare assistant in advance of the course starting and you regaining your PIN. To find out more, log on to www.kmpt.nhs.uk/return-to-practice or for an informal chat, give Emma Hutchinson a call in the recruitment team on 01227 812351.
More Protection for Mums Returning to Work
School Holidays Put Single Parents under Pressure
Single parents struggle particularly with the extra costs involved in school holiday childcare, according to recent research commissioned by the credit information New parents returning to work could receive provider, Equifax. greater protection from redundancy under A fifth of single parents admit to calling new government proposals. in sick because they are unable to afford The government is proposing that mothers childcare. 35% of single parents take returning to work from maternity leave will be unpaid leave, compared to just 18% of protected from redundancy for a minimum of dual-income households, which puts them six months. under further financial pressure. The announcement followed research School holidays also come with the which found that one in nine women had added pressure to spend money to keep been fired or made redundant when they children entertained. The research revealed returned to work after having a child, or were that most parents expect to spend £178.29 treated so badly they felt forced out of their during a half-term holiday. job. 4 out of 5 parents agree that school It is also considering giving the same holidays are getting more expensive every protection to parents returning from adoption year, with more than 76% saying there are Ismini Phillips - Familys Magazine advert 3mm out bleed or shared parental leave. fewer free entertainment options of DEC term time, compared to five years ago.
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Mums Working Close to Home Fuels Gender Pay Gap Women in every part of the UK are more likely than men to live within a 15 minute commute to their place of work, according to statistics released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). 43% of women get to work in no more than 15 minutes, whereas 61% of commuters who travel for more than an hour are men. This ‘gender commuting gap’ starts to widen after the birth of the first child in the family and continues to grow for around 10 years after that, according to analysis of the statistics by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS). Economists think this constraint on commuting longer distances may be one of www.familiesonline.co.uk
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the factors contributing to the ‘gender pay gap,’ as mothers, in K particular, are limited by distance in their choice of work, needing to work closer to home and childcare facilities. More info: www.ifs.org.uk email: editor@familieswestkent.co.uk
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