Researchers examined the processes affecting lone parents' decisions about employment, as well as their attitudes towards working, using data from the Families and Children Study 2006-2008.
Source: Wojtek Tomaszewski, Jenny Chanfreau and Matt Barnes, Lone Parents and Employment: An exploration of findings from the Families and Children Study 2006-08, Working Paper 93, Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Working paper | DWP press release
Date: 2010-Dec
A report examined the feasibility of undertaking an impact assessment of the policy change (from November 2008) placing additional obligations to seek/accept work on lone parents claiming income support.
Source: Mike Brewer, James Browne and Tom Crossley, Lone Parent Obligations and New Services for Lone Parents: A feasibility study of an impact assessment, Working Paper 92, Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Paper
Date: 2010-Nov
A report presented findings on the destinations and journeys experienced by lone parents after their youngest child reached the 'threshold' age of 12, after which (from November 2008) they lost their entitlement to income support solely on the grounds of being a lone parent. Lone parents who had moved into work generally reported this as having a positive effect on their lives, though not all felt that they were financially better off. Support for lone parents from Jobcentre Plus was not always sufficiently tailored to their needs.
Source: Jo Casebourne et al., Lone Parent Obligations: Destinations of lone parents after income support eligibility ends, Research Report 710, Department for Work and Pensions
Date: 2010-Nov
A report presented findings from a qualitative evaluation of the 'In Work Retention Pilot' (IWRP), examining the delivery of the pilot and the views of lone parents and Jobcentre Plus staff. The payments were felt to have made a difference to work entry, particularly for some groups of lone parents, but were felt to have had less impact on retention. (The IWRP was piloted from April 2004 and then rolled out nationally in April 2008. It involved paying a wage supplement of £40 per week – £60 in London – for 12 months to eligible lone parents moving into work.)
Source: Kathryn Ray, Christine Bertram, Rosemary Davidson and Lucia Durante, Can Altering the Structure of Financial Support Payments Aid Work Retention Amongst Lone Parents? Qualitative evaluation of the In Work Retention Pilot, Research Report 708, Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Report | Summary | DWP press release
Date: 2010-Nov
An article examined contradictions within and between policies in the United Kingdom and Australia of (on the one hand) treating lone parents as workers rather than as carers and (on the other) investing in children and protecting them from the adult world.
Source: Gerry Redmond, 'Children's agency and the welfare state: policy priorities and contradictions in Australia and the UK', Childhood, Volume 17 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Nov
Researchers examined delivery of the 'In Work Credit' (IWC) since national roll-out in 2008, the effect on retention after the end of IWC, and differences between those who completed their claim and those who did not. The delivery of IWC was very effective in relation to the claim and payment processes: but more could be done to increase levels of awareness of IWC among eligible lone parents. (The IWR involves paying a wage supplement of £40 per week – £60 in London – for 12 months to eligible lone parents moving into work.)
Source: Lorraine Sims, Jo Casebourne, Laurie Bell and Malen Davies, Supporting Lone Parents' Journey Off Benefits and Into Work: A qualitative evaluation of the role of In Work Credit, Research Report 712, Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Report | Summary | DWP press release
Date: 2010-Nov
A paper examined the impact of the youngest child being eligible for full-time primary education (relative to part-time nursery education) on benefits receipt and employment patterns among lone parents. There was a small but significant effect on both employment and benefits receipt; and some evidence of a smaller effect of eligibility for part-time nursery education on lone parents' labour supply. This suggested that the expansion of public education programmes to younger disadvantaged children might only encourage a small number of low-income lone parents to return to work.
Source: Mike Brewer and Claire Crawford, Starting School and Leaving Welfare: The impact of public education on lone parents' welfare receipt, Working Paper 10/19, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Date: 2010-Sep
A report said that there was a 'distinct lack' of jobs offering flexible working arrangements – despite the coalition government's plans to get more lone parents into work.
Source: Changing the Workplace: The missing piece of the jigsaw, Gingerbread
Links: Report | Gingerbread press release | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Aug
A report examined the likely effects of a reform requiring lone parents with older children to be available for work. It concluded that the reform would not lead to the desired increase in the employment rate of lone parents, as the target group was too small and the levels of multiple disadvantages within the group too high. 'Ability to work' could not be determined by reference to the age of the youngest child but needed to take into account the characteristics of lone parents as well.
Source: Tina Haux, Activating Lone Parents: An evidence-based policy appraisal of the 2008 welfare-to-work reform in Britain, Working Paper 2010-29, Institute for Social and Economic Research/University of Essex
Links: Working paper | Abstract
Date: 2010-Aug
A manifesto for lone parents set out policy priorities in five major areas: financial security for all families; aiming high through education and training; promoting children's and parents' well-being; quality childcare addressing the needs of children and paid work; and community empowerment and participation.
Source: Manifesto 2010-2015, Single Parent Action Network
Links: Manifesto
Date: 2010-Apr
A study examined data from interviews with mothers of mixed-race children whose fathers were absent. Some of the evidence was from those who had brought up their children decades previously. The study explored the specific racisms, prejudices, and stereotypes that the women and children had been faced with – and where, if anywhere, they had been able to turn for support.
Source: Chamion Caballero and Rosalind Edwards, Lone Mothers of Mixed Racial and Ethnic Children: Then and Now, Runnymede Trust
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Apr
Findings were published from the first stage of the evaluation of 'lone parent obligations' (requiring lone parents who were claiming benefit solely as a lone parent to look for work as a condition of benefit receipt, if their youngest child was aged 12 or over, or 10 or over from October 2009). Implementation of the new arrangements had gone well to date. Staff reported being well-supported and most of the claimants interviewed were aware of the change to their benefits and why the changes were happening.
Source: Rosie Gloster et al., Lone Parent Obligations: Early Findings of Implementation as well as Experiences of the Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance Regimes, Research Report 645, Department for Work and Pensions
Date: 2010-Mar
A manifesto for lone parents called for longer repayment periods for overpaid benefits and tax credits; more financial help with childcare; employers to offer more jobs in school hours; practical advice on money, housing, and legal rights; and more support for families when parents separated.
Source: A Single Parents' Manifesto for Change, Gingerbread
Links: Manifesto | Gingerbread press release
Date: 2010-Mar
An article examined the particular experiences of racism negotiated by lone white mothers of mixed-parentage children. Racism and racial injustice became more visible to the mothers in the study through their parenting. As well as experiencing racism directed at their children in a range of contexts (including the extended family, school, and the local area), the mothers frequently faced social disapproval themselves. Their experiences could challenge and complicate dominant conceptualizations of white privilege.
Source: Vicki Harman, 'Experiences of racism and the changing nature of white privilege among lone white mothers of mixed-parentage children in the UK', Ethnic and Racial Studies, Volume 33 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Feb
A report examined families' income and spending, focusing on lone parents. It looked at families' financial capability, the key financial products they had, and their attitudes to managing money. Lone parents were generally very good at keeping a close eye on their money: but low incomes meant that getting by was difficult even with the best money management skills. Child poverty was a key issue for lone-parent families, and the report presented some new ways of thinking about poverty as well as ideas for reducing it.
Source: Victoria Peacey, Family Finances, Gingerbread
Date: 2010-Jan
An article examined the chances of leaving means-tested benefit for a set of lone mothers in a single town, exploring whether there was variation by ethnic group. After controlling for basic demographic characteristics, there was little evidence to suggest that ethnicity affected the chances of benefit exit, even between groups where rates of lone parenthood were very different.
Source: Christina Mokhtar and Lucinda Platt, 'Lone mothers, ethnicity and welfare dynamics', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 39 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Jan
The British Social Attitudes survey found that there was general public support for recent government initiatives to link lone parents' receipt of benefits to their efforts to seek work. Views about whether lone parents should work depended on the ages of the children involved.
Source: Matt Barnes and Wojtek Tomaszewski, 'Lone parents and benefits: an obligation to look for work', in British Social Attitudes: The 26th Report, SAGE Publications
Links: Summary | NatCen press release
Date: 2010-Jan