Single parents still struggling as UK revives

In a survey carried out by Gingerbread, two-thirds of working single parents said they had constant financial worries.

Its report, Paying the Price: The Long Road to Recovery, claims lone mothers and fathers are twice as likely as other workers to be in a low-wage job.

The charity said its research found little evidence that the economic revival was helping the lives of single parents working or “desperately trying” to break into the jobs market.

Gingerbread chief executive Fiona Weir said: “Single parents are working incredibly hard to provide for their families, but all too often they are barely keeping up with the costs of the essentials for their families.

“There is little sign of an economic recovery for parents who have had to go without another meal and face the nagging, gnawing worry of bills marked ‘final warning’.

“Our report shows that for single parent families, work isn’t a golden ticket out of poverty, low-paid jobs aren’t a rite of passage and a recovering job market is still leaving many behind.”

Single parents questioned during the research reported feeling “disadvantaged”, with few part-time or flexible jobs on offer for those needing to juggle childcare with work.

One in six said they had multiple jobs, while a quarter had increased their working hours to meet the costs of family essentials.

“Single parents are the sole earners for their family, so it’s absolutely vital that, when they go out to work, their job pays a decent wage and offers them stability,” said Ms Weir.

“Without action from government and employers on in-work financial support, low-pay and job security, too many single parent families will remain trapped in poverty and left out of the recovery.”

Gingerbread’s report follows the release of figures earlier this month which showed a rise in child poverty rates for single parent households where the parent works full-time.

Single mother-of-one Alison Fulcher, 43, from Essex, holds down two jobs to provide for herself and her daughter.

She said: “I work 33 hours a week doing two jobs – a housekeeper and a cleaner. For one of my jobs, while I really like the company I work for, I’m earning just above the minimum wage.

“Trying to bridge the gap between my earnings and the rent and our increased council tax bill is difficult.

“I absolutely want to contribute and pay my taxes, but on a low income, it’s not easy.”

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said yesterday that the lone parent employment rate was at its highest level since records began in 1996.

He added: “Our welfare reforms are designed to encourage even more lone parents into work – and make work pay by allowing them to keep more of the money they earn – as we know work is the best route out of poverty.

“That is why we have brought forward the employment support for lone parents with younger children, announced extra childcare provision for lone parents under Universal Credit and made free nursery education available for all three and four-year-olds.”