Parents should have the right to paid parental leave as part of emergency measures to protect children during coronavirus pandemic.
A leading thinktank is warning that kids are set to be the “unseen victims” of the health emergency without urgent intervention.
IPPR is calling for the right to paid parental leave, extra family cash, help accessing online learning and priority use of parks.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady backed their call.
She said: “With schools and nurseries closed, lots of parents with younger children have no choice but to care for them at home. For many, this means they can no longer work.
(Image: PA)
“Parents urgently need paid parental leave and protection from losing their jobs during this exceptional time.”
Other countries where schools have closed including France, Italy and the US have give parents that right and Ms O’Grady said it should be part of the government’s job retention schem.
An estimated 3.9 million parents may need to care for children because they are no longer in school or childcare.
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IPPR also call for a rise in the child element of Universal Credit and child tax credit by £10 a week, and removal of the two-child limit and the current benefit cap – boosting income for families receiving these benefits by £1,400 a year on average.
Some 4.2 million children already live in poverty and without intervention their numbers will increase because of the crisis.
The thinktank’s package includes one-off emergency Child Benefit payments of £30 each for 12.7 million children, and an extra £5 per week for each child throughout the crisis.
Clare McNeil, IPPR Associate Director, said: “For all the children of the pandemic, a normal childhood is out of reach for the foreseeable future.
“We need to intervene now to reduce the financial, educational and health gaps that will otherwise only widen while this crisis endures.”
