In this episode of WM People, Ben and Mandy discuss alternative childcare, fake flexibility at work and sleep deprivation. Platforms like Koru Kids might offer flexible childcare options, but how workable are they? Ben and Mandy start the episode discussing the pros and cons of using alternative childcare options, from ensuring they work outside wealthy areas to whether they provide continuity to children and how they’ll adapt to that. They then discuss fake flexibility at work after having children. While there is often the option to reduce the number of working days, the amount of work you ..read more

In this episode of WM People, Ben and Mandy talk about the childcare budget announcement this week, single mums and Mother’s Day 2023. They begin the episode discussing the childcare budget announcement last week, giving a brief overview of the changes and what the impact will be on working parents. Single parents will be among the most impacted by the changes, so Ben and Mandy discuss what single parenthood involves more broadly and the emotional implications of being a sole guardian to children.  Lastly, Ben and Mandy reflect on mother’s day 2023, which was last week, and how meaning ..read more

In this episode of WM People, Mandy and Ben talk about childcare, International Women’s Day and the FDM Everywoman awards. They discuss the significance of childcare in a child’s development and highlight the lack of funding allocated towards it. They look at the reasons why childcare remains a neglected issue and suggest possible ways to improve it. As the world celebrated International Women’s Day 2023, Mandy and Ben reflect on the most pressing gender equality issues it raised. They examine the recent backlash against gender equality and speculate on what its future will be like, as well ..read more

In this episode of the WM People podcast, Ben Falk and Mandy Garner cover the WM Employer Awards, ill health and work and representation of parents on TV. The WM People Employer Awards were last week so Ben and Mandy start the episode discussing what winning employers are doing to improve diversity and inclusion, flexible working and mental health in the workplace.  Ill health plays a big part of people dropping out of work, both physical and mental, so they look at how the knock on effect of the pandemic impacted young people’s mental health and how workplaces can support them.  ..read more

In the first episode of the WM People podcast, Ben Falk (editor of workingdads.co.uk) and Mandy Garner (editor of workingmums.co.uk) discuss what’s been happening with flexible working for parents and childcare in the last two weeks. Ben and Mandy start by discussing how access to childcare impacts working parents and the kind of work they're able to do, as well as how the demand for childcare has changed since the pandemic and during the cost of living crisis. They then move on to overworking and changes to the working week structure. Some industries are better at accommodating part time w ..read more