Fairness and Freedom: The Final Report of the Equalities Review

Published February 2007, the Government's Equality Review offers yet more evidence that structural and ideological conflicts within the British economy and society hinder the successful combination of paid employment and child-rearing. This severely disadvantages mothers of young children in particular, especially in terms of employment, career advancement, and quality of life in general. The disadvantages experienced by mothers in England, Scotland, and Wales are found to cut across social and ethnic groups but, as might be expected, they are not equally distributed. They depend upon the type of family in which a mother and her child(ren) live and the characteristics of their immediate social networks. The Report finds that interventions thought to reduce disadvantage from early childhood onward, such as access to high quality pre-schooling and rich Home Learning Environments, are often inaccessible to particular subgroups, including disabled children of all backgrounds. Thus it points to a need for expanded and improved early childhood care and education for all as a way to help systematically reduce inequality. Click here for PDF of the Report.