The coalition government may be forced to take on more single parents for public sector jobs if it is to encourage private-sector businesses to do the same.
From this October, some 120,000 single parents will be required to look for work once their youngest child reaches seven years of age.
In 2011, a further 100,000 single parents may be required to look for work when the age threshold of the youngest child is lowered to five.
However, parents are only required to look for jobs of 16 hours a week and those with children under 12 can limit their searches to posts that do not extend beyond the school day.
As a result of these factors, many businesses may struggle to offer single parents the kind of flexibility they need and it could come down to the government to offer them public sector jobs if it is to reach its ambitious targets.
In fact, a survey by single parent charity Gingerbread found that lone parents are currently struggling to find 'family-friendly' opportunities to work.
Nearly two-thirds (62 per cent) of single parents said they had found no or few jobs with part time hours open for application, while 97 per cent were unable to find jobs conforming to school hours and 95 per cent had experienced little luck in identifying job shares.
Fiona Weir, chief executive of Gingerbread, said: "The business case for flexible working is proven with 92 per cent of employers agreeing that people work best when they can balance work and other aspects of their lives.
"Nationally nearly 60 per cent of single parents are already in work and most of those on benefits say they want a job. A workplace that works better for single parents is the missing part of the jigsaw."
The responsibility could fall to the government of setting an example in this regard with the allocation of public sector jobs to single parents.
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