Starting a family? Work for the state

Published on Saturday 28 November 2009 19:11

GOLD-PLATED pensions and greater job security are not the only advantages of working in the public sector. It also increases your chances of having a baby.

New research has found that working for the state rather than for a private business can increase fertility rates.

The study found that greater job security among women working in areas such as the NHS and local government made deciding to have a baby less difficult.

Working part-time also made employees believe they could take time out to start a family, according to the study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

The results have led to calls for private companies to increase efforts to allow women and men greater flexibility in their working patterns.

Dr Tiziana Nazio, who carried out the research on fertility and working patterns in the UK and Italy, said a woman's career choice had a significant impact on having children.

She found that a woman working full-time in the public sector in the UK was 14 per cent more likely to have a child than a comparable woman working in the private sector.

Women who work part-time in the public sector were 54 per cent more likely to have a child than those working full-time in the private sector.

Nazio explained there were several reasons why the public sector may help increase fertility rates.

"The public sector offers better guarantees to come back into employment without any prejudice to your possibility to have further advancement in your career," she said.

"It is more flexible in regard to the working schedule and it is more friendly towards taking leave, for example, if the child become sick.

"It is more flexible in terms of taking time off or switching to part-time working and back to full-time again."

Private sector companies should now be encouraged to make working easier for women who want children, at least during their child-rearing years, Nazio added

"They don't necessarily need to reduce working hours over all their working life. They really need it around the childbirth and child-rearing period.

"I would encourage companies to take responsibility around this need to adjust the working hours, not only for women but also for men."

Dr Cynthia McVey, a health psychologist from Glasgow Caledonian University, said

"Women tend to try to establish themselves and then take time out to have children. It might be less difficult for them to have their families early if they work in the public sector because of the very child-friendly schemes they have."

McVey said women faced difficult choices when deciding what career path to take.

"That means that in terms of career progression, it is probably more difficult for a woman because she needs a career break and in many ways that is easier in the public sector than it is in the private sector."

Belinda Phipps, chief executive of the National Childbirth Trust, said: "It is really important that all parts of the working environment support women to go back to work. It is good to hear that the public sector is better in allowing flexible working and we would like the private sector to follow."