SINGLE parents have been “particularly hard hit” by the cost-of-living crisis and are now struggling to pay their energy bills, buy food and face increased isolation, a new report has found.
One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS) polled 260 single parents on their experiences and have now called for all levels of government to take drastic action, putting forward a number of suggestions from those involved in the survey for governments as part of a bid for more support for those facing, and living in, poverty.
The report Living without a Lifeline was based on anonymous online surveys and feedback from focus groups of those who use OPFS local services.
Their findings showed that 78% of single parents are in work and almost all (97.9%) of participants said they felt the impact of rising costs, with over one in five no longer able to afford to buy clothes (21.2%), pay for travel (22.3%) or childcare (21.2%) at all.
When it came to household costs, three in five single parents (61.1%) taking part said they are finding it extremely difficult to afford or could no longer afford electricity, 58.1% said the same about gas, while 43.7% said the same about food.
The majority of research participants were female, in line with national figures of 92% of single parent households headed by women.
One key theme raised by participants was the difficulty in meeting the demands to pay for uniforms, school trips, and the many other requirements for daily school life. While costs are rising across the board, support for families in these areas is not increasing, leading to an even greater drain on household budgets.
A single mum who took part in the research said:“There is always something extra to pay for - sponsored events, book fairs, craft fairs, Christmas fairs, Halloween costume, Red Nose Day, Christmas jumper, wear a certain colour for sports day, world book day costume etc.
“Parental events are held either during working hours or in the evening so I feel excluded as I can’t afford a babysitter- shame online events aren’t continuing.”
The research also found that single parents were struggling to afford to pay for essentials regardless of whether they were in paid work and that support through social security did not go far enough.
Another single parent commented: “I just feel that I’m totally on my own financially. We can’t claim free school meals or any grants because I’m not on benefits (except Child Benefit). Outgoings are increasing, I am as frugal as I can be, my pay was frozen for 3 years and now I have a 2% cost of living increase, better than nothing.
“Children’s father has not contributed a penny for years now. Feel forgotten about. I cut my own hair, I skip meals, I scrimp on heating etc so I can pay the mortgage. There is no support for us from anyone.”
The Scottish Government has been urged to double planned “bridging payments” for families with children receiving free school meals from £130 to £260, update the eight social security payments Scotland is in charge of in line with inflation, and increase the value and widen eligibility of the Scottish Carers Assistance payment.
Other recommendations from the report include widening the eligibility of school clothing and free school meals access for those receiving Universal Credit. OPFS have said this should come through increasing finances through devolved taxes, adding that they support radical reform of the council tax system.
OPFS urged the UK Government to intervene by introducing progressive taxes to reduce inequality, bring in emergency interventions for low-income families to tackle the cost crisis, and introduce single parents rights and protection from discrimination into law.
They also called for investment into social security systems to prevent child poverty, enhanced support for childcare costs for single parents through UC, and further support for single parents to get well paid and family friendly jobs.
Satwat Rehman, OPFS CEO, said: “Living without a lifeline is exactly what so many single parents who took part in our research and who reach out to our services every day say they are doing, which is why we chose this as the title for our report.
“Women who are single parents have been particularly hard hit by the economic storm that has engulfed us and, with women's poverty being inextricably linked to child poverty, we are living amid a rising tide of family hardship.
“Single parents described the day-to-day struggle to afford food and fuel, and the need to make sacrifices to ensure that children's basic needs were met. In some cases, mothers go without food and struggle to pay essential bills. Isolation, anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts were described.
“The parents responding have also forcefully described the policy areas which must be prioritised by government to tackle poverty and support family wellbeing and the priority areas where we at OPFS need to focus our energies. Over the coming year, these priorities will be our priorities.”
