INTRO
Some of the UK's top companies are encouraging women back to work following a career break through a scheme called a Returnship.
And the British government has pledged millions of pounds in its latest budget for back-to-work programmes like these.
It's believed women who return to work after a long absence could bring huge benefits to the country's economy.
Our UK correspondent Natalie Powell caught up with a returner and employers offering the returnship programme.
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SCRIPT
On this busy construction site we find Rachel, she's been working full time at Tideway for the past two years - a company tasked with building a new sewer network in London.
After a 9 year absence from the work place to raise 3 children, Rachel joined the company through a scheme called a returnship
RACHEL TOMKINS, RETURNER, TIDEWAY
"Initially it was a 12 week returhisop in the head office, so about 8 weeks into that programme I realised I wanted to stay and the company were keen for us to look and apply for jobs. So I found three different roles I was interested in, applied for all of them and was offered all of them so I had my choice which was brilliant"
Returnships are designed to reintroduce predominantly women back into employment after a break, who may have left employment for reasons such as bringing up children or looking after elderly relatives.
Many of these people find it difficult to return to work after a long break, as Julie Thornton the head of Tideway's Human Resources explains.
JULIE THORNTON, HEAD OF HR, TIDEWAY
"I know from talking to lots of returners and other people who've tried to get back into the market place, once you've been out of work for two years the general recruitment industry doesn't know what to do with you, so you find it really difficult to get an opening."
But a returnship scheme helps open up opportunities for both employers and employees
"The advantages for the employer is that you have people who want to get back into work so they're incredibly enthusiastic they have skills and experiences and they just need a bit of support to come back up to speed and it does improve the diversity on the project either through gender or age."
Returnships are usually paid placements lasting several weeks or months, they give employers the chance to test out returners…
And for the returners its an opportunity to see if they want to go back to work while also opening up industries they may not have thought about working in before. - like construction.
They're also given support from organisations like Women Returners, who offer practical advice on a weekly basis over the duration of the returnship.
And Co-Founder of Women Returners, Julianne Miles, says there are benefits for the UK economy in encouraging more women to return to work
JULIANNE MILES, CO FOUNDER, WOMEN RETURNERS
"This starts to tackle one of the issues around the gender pay gap because the research has shown that if you take time out of the work force then your pay reduces quite dramatically"
The British government seems to have taken note, and has recently pledged 6 million dollars to return to work schemes
And recent research suggests that a 5% increase in women workers could create over 9 hundred million dollars in tax revenue alone - a big plus for the British economy.
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