Lone Parents and the New Deal

The New Deal for Lone Parents represents a significant break with past policy approaches. Throughout the post-war period, lone parents in the UK have not been required to seek employment and policy has largely been based on the assumption that lone parents will stay at home to care for their children rather than going out to work to provide for them. Lone parenthood was a marker that indicated legitimate withdrawal from the labour market. Under the Labour government, however, this approach is in the process of being turned around. The New Deal for Lone Parents, introduced in 1997, is a key part of this. This article first places the New Deal for Lone Parents in context by describing how it developed out of previous policy and then discusses the emerging evidence about how lone parents have responded to the opportunity to take part in such a programme. The final section considers how the New Deal for Lone Parents relates to welfare-to-work policies in the UK more generally.