Evidence library

Feedback from 260 single parents highlights their experiences and priorities, which includes cost of living, family finances, social security, childcare, employment, access to education, mental health and wellbeing, and the ongoing impact of Covid-19.

Findings

• 78% of single parents are in work and the same percentage of single parents receive a social security benefit.
• Almost all (97.9%) of participants said they felt the impact of rising costs.
• Three in five (61.1%) of participants said they are finding it either extremely difficult to afford or could no longer afford electricity, while 58.1% said the same about gas, and 43.7% said the same about food.
• More than one in five participants said they can no longer afford to buy clothes (21.2%), pay for travel (22.3%) or childcare (21.2%) at all.
• Most participants in the research were women, which is in keeping with the national statistic that 92% of single parent households are headed by women.