Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 04 February 2026
04 Feb 2026 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Portfolio Question Time
Employability Programmes (Support for Parents)
The fact that mums are working full time does not mean that the costs of parenting, especially the cost of childcare, cannot ruin them financially. Yesterday, I heard from a mother of a two-year-old, who told me that, when she is working compressed hours plus two hours after her child’s bedtime, there is no time to mentally recover and that the low level of net pay after childcare means that there is no incentive for mothers to be in work. Does the minister agree that, if hard-working mothers who are earning reasonable wages are questioning whether they can still afford to work, because of the crippling cost of childcare, the system is broken and requires urgent reform, for the sake of the economy if nothing else?
In the same item of business
1. Davy Russell (Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse) (Lab)
Lab
To ask the Scottish Government how its employability programmes support parents of children aged nine months to three years to return to work, in light of th...
The Minister for Business and Employment (Richard Lochhead)
SNP
Parental employability support is available for low-income parents through the no one left behind approach, which emphasises priority family groups, includin...
Davy Russell
Lab
The fact that mums are working full time does not mean that the costs of parenting, especially the cost of childcare, cannot ruin them financially. Yesterday...
Richard Lochhead
SNP
Families across Scotland have benefited from 1,140 funded hours of high-quality early learning and childcare for all three and four-year-olds and eligible tw...