Name of programme and delivery organisation

Working Families‟ parents and carers helpline

Objective

Supporting parents and carers to achieve a work/life balance

Description of service

Telephone helpline, website and email-based advice service on employment rights and benefits. Coaching and casework in discrimination cases.

Helpline: 0800 013 0313
Email: advice@workingfamilies.org.uk
Web: www.workingfamilies.org.uk

Target audience

Low income/disadvantaged parents and carers.
Reach: ethnicity broadly corresponds to population; majority of callers are 25-49; 90 per cent of callers are female; up to 10 per cent of callers are disabled & up to 10 per cent have disabled children; at least 50 per cent of callers are low income (using Joseph Rowntree Trust indicators).

Scale

200-300 a month

Cost

Free

Evidence of impact and quality

Caller feedback is gathered via a researcher who is not part of the helpline team. Callers for whom we do casework are followed up to measure outcomes. We are audited by the CLS.

Useful insights

We hope to expand our service to callers so that we can do more work on income maximisation, supporting families so that they have more information on the interaction of hours of work, childcare, earnings and benefits.