This event has now finished.
  • Date and time: Tuesday 4 July 2023, 4pm to 5.30pm
  • Location: In-person and online
    CL/A/026, Church Lane Building, Campus West, University of York (Map)
  • Audience: Open to staff, students, the public
  • Admission: Free admission, booking not required

Event details

How can working parents be better supported by businesses and government?

In more and more families, one or both parents are working. The need for emotional and financial parental support is at an all-time high. Back in 2015, in response to the demand for support, the Government introduced shared parental leave. With a take-up of between 2% and 8%, this has had little to no impact. The pandemic, cost of living crisis, rising childcare costs, coupled with grandparents working passed retirement age, has resulted in lots of families not knowing where to turn to for support.

The support businesses and government provide parents will impact directly on the population, in addition to employee retention rates. With the little support available to parents, more and more people are choosing not to have children. How will this impact pensions, future services and will this create an under-population crisis?

Laura Ibbotson will provide an insight based on her international experience, discussing what we can learn from other countries. She will deliver ideas on what government and businesses can do to support working parents.   

Zoom link

About the speaker

Laura Ibbotson

Laura has over 20 years of HR experience, joining Heras as Head of HR UK in 2019. Both her First Degree and Masters degrees are in HR. She is a Fellow of the CIPD and is a qualified NLP coaching practitioner.

Laura has a wealth of experience in transformational leadership, business turnarounds and establishing value adding HR departments. Laura has a passion and many years’ experience in talent management, wellbeing and educational partnerships. Laura supports the group European company and works on the international ESG project, where she is project lead for Social.

Laura feels that the fact she is dyslexic has enabled her with a ‘super power’ and allows her to understand how to support others with a greater understanding for the need for a diverse workforce. Laura is soon to join Modular Group Investments as Group HR Director in August 2023.

Venue details

  • Wheelchair accessible
  • No hearing loop