Supporting Working Families Everywhere
The riots of on the streets of England in August 2011 shocked the public and showed a level of dysfunction and dissatisfaction in some communities that manifested itself in violent protest. As a result, Prime Minister David Cameron redoubled his efforts to address the growing number of workless families, reiterating his announcement of December 2010 that he had asked Emma Harrison to lead a drive to get 120,000 troubled families working again. Harrison’s Working Families Everywhere campaign believes that every family can aspire to be a working family and seeks to enable this aspiration through intensive intervention by a team of Family Champions.
The 120,000 families mentioned by the Prime Minister have complex needs that are presently served by a range of government agencies charged with dealing with one, or in some cases a couple, of these needs. The difference in the Working Families Everywhere approach is on setting a single goal, in this case employment for at least one family member, and dealing with the other needs on the path to, or subsequent to, that goal.
At the time of the initial announcement Harrison said: “I have spent more than 20 years helping individuals and families in the most disadvantaged communities get work, regain ambition and improve both their lives and the lives of those around them. I am excited and honoured to be asked to help make real the vision to turn 120,000 ‘never worked’ families into families that are working, paying their own way, living great lives and, what’s more, helping others do the same.
“For those families that are part of the Working Families Everywhere Campaign they will have a new source of support, they will have their own Family Champion, someone who side by side with the family will use every existing resource available to help them get going, face up to and sort out their problems, whether they be parenting challenges, poor health, debt, addiction, dependency or lack of motivation. Most importantly, however, it will involve helping people into meaningful employment to help create happy, working families with a new sense of purpose and an active role in society.
“My role will be to inspire, to change attitudes, to make sure that every bit of the existing government, voluntary and private effort adds up to this single goal of creating happy, working families” she said.
The timing of Parenting Week, with its theme of ‘Family Friendly: what’s the story?’, fits well with the Working Families Everywhere campaign and its efforts to stimulate the debate what ‘family friendly’ is and how it impacts on employment.
Figures cited by the charity Family and Parenting Institute show that only six percent of people think that the UK is a very family friendly society. Harrison wonders whether that figure would be even worse if studies were to look into workplaces: “How family friendly are our workplaces? How much of a barrier to work is a lack or perceived lack of empathy to families by employers?
“As I travel around the country with the campaign I see that the vast majority of the families I meet want to change their own futures by moving into employment because it is through employment that they will be able to make the greatest changes to their economic circumstances. However, many of the 120,000 families we want to help will see themselves join employment at entry level therefore flexible working hours that fit with school and nursery provision is vital" she said.
Each of the Working Families Everywhere ‘Family Champions’ seek out employment opportunities for the families they support, a process that would be greatly simplified by employers being more open and transparent about their family friendly policies, publishing details of maternity and paternity leave, flexible working or carers leave on their websites.
Harrison is convinced that the family friendly employers are out there: “I have seen for myself that there are companies who really believe in families and provide great support to ensure that their employees aren’t put in a position where they have to choose between work and family. These employers should make sure they are open about and urge other businesses to be the same. This campaign is happening because people have seen that troubled families that become working families are able to play a more active role in contributing to their community - the Prime Minister has seen it, I have seen it and the Family Champions have seen it.”
One of the key aims of the Working Families Everywhere campaign is to highlight the issues and barriers that exist to getting families into employment. The media is playing a role, helping the wider public to understand the situations faced by these families and how they can help themselves and each other.
The campaign sees Emma Harrison taking the lead on inspiring, recruiting, training and developing an army of “Volunteer Family Champions” who will be from communities up and down the country- people who are passionate about and capable of helping others. She urges others to join her: “With the support of their own Family Champion, we can help transform these workless families into working families, building their independence and aspirations for the future. As a society we should celebrate families and all play our part in helping them to thrive. That is just what this campaign is about: helping troubled families to become working families so they can, in turn, help others”.
