A CAMPAIGN to offer working parents more support has been launched by Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers.

The aim is to examine key issues whcih affect how working patterns have changed and how the UK compares to other countries in its attitudes and legislation.

Mr. Byers aims to initiate a series of regional discussions with ministers to allow the Government to hear from as many organisations as possible across the country.

"In the last 25 years there have been huge changes in the world of work and the way people want to work," he said.

"Many hard-working parents are facing the difficult task of juggling the responsibility of being a good parent with holding down a job. Those pressures need to be recognised."

The DTI has published its own discussion paper which highlights that there are 5.7 million households in Great Britain with at least one dependent child under the age of 12. Of these households 1.2 million are with a single mum, while lone fathers make up 140,000.

Also, the proportion of families with two wage earners has risen from 46 per cent in 1983 to 63 per cent in 1996, while the proportion with a single wage earner has decreased from 42 per cent in 1983 to 27 per cent in 1996.

The percentage women returning to employment within a short time of childbirth has increased from 45 per cent in 19888 to 67 per cent in 1996, according to the report.

Mr Byers added: "In today's labour market we cannot afford to waste any talent. We must ensure everyone is able to make a full contribution to the competitiveness and productivity of the modern economy.