Creating a fairer Britain
It brings together various ideas about how work could be organised, people employed and business structured for Britain to meet these challenges and at the same time improve equality and human rights.
We've been working to find innovative new ways of working, particularly more flexible options. For those with caring responsibilities, parents who want to work, disabled people who want meaningful careers, younger workers who want phased entry into work, and older workers who want to stay in the labour market for longer - this is the big issue of our time.
Working Better also highlights challenges for business and institutions, for example the squandering of talent apparent in the 'glass ceilings' that specific groups of people face when trying to progress through the ranks of an industry, profession or spheres of public life. Our Sex and Power survey illustrates this through the case of women and highlights the dangers of continuing to waste talent in Britain's economic, cultural and political life.
Working Better looks at the limitations of current policy and practice, highlights where new thinking and creative solutions are needed, and puts forward a range of options and solutions for change.
We launched 'Working Better' in Summer 2008, to explore how we can match the aspirations of employees with the needs of employers. Continuing from the 'Transformation of Work' project undertaken by the former Equal Opportunities Commission, we expanded the parameters of Working Better to include the needs of parents, carers, disabled people, young people and older workers.
To mark the launch of our Working Better initiative, we partnered with Mumsnet.com and Dad Info two leading parenting websites, to launch their unique consultation, Home Front: What do mums and dads need to make life work? The results of this consultation, which gave mothers and fathers the opportunity to tell the world how they organise work and caring, and what could be done to make life easier, were presented to politicians and policy makers.