Half of parents have no protection to cover work absence

The protection and employee benefits provider surveyed 3,003 employed and self-employed parents with a child/children aged 22 and under. Among the parents without protection, over half (56%) were self-employed, 65% worked part-time and 39% were employed on zero-hour contracts. MetLife said that should parents have to take time off due to childcare needs, this group of parents in particular face the highest financial risk by having no formal plan to fall back on in an emergency. The main reasons parents had no financial protection in place were due to affordability concerns (44%), a...