An article examined the experiences of lone parent families as mothers transitioned into outside work, and examined the demands of sustaining employment on a low, but complex, income.
Source: Jane Millar and Tess Ridge, 'Lone mothers and paid work: the family-work project ', International Review of Sociology, Volume 23 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Dec
A study examined the financial situation of lone parents in the United Kingdom under austerity. The initial report said that most lone parents struggled to meet their financial commitments, and around half frequently had insufficient money for the week or month. It said that their financial security had been affected by recent tax and benefit reforms, as well as a lack of employment opportunities and an increased cost of living. The report said that coping strategies included: constant and careful budgeting; reduced spending; and borrowing money. It raised concern about the ongoing impact of future welfare cuts, high living costs, and barriers to employment. The study would run until June 2015 and these initial findings would be used as a baseline to monitor future developments.
Source: Sumi Rabindrakumar, Paying the Price: Single parents in the age of austerity, Gingerbread
Links: Report | Summary | Gingerbread press release | Guardian report
Date: 2013-Dec
A study examined the relationship between lone parents, work and mental health. The report outlined a reduction in rates of depression among working lone parents. It concluded that being in paid employment was a factor in explaining the fall, but noted the key importance of working in a supportive environment that facilitated the balancing of work and childcare responsibilities.
Source: Susan Harkness and Amy Skipp, Lone Mothers, Work And Depression, Nuffield Foundation
Links: Report | Nuffield Foundation press release
Date: 2013-Dec
An article examined the gradual transfer since 2008 of most non-employed lone parents to the 'activating' jobseekers' allowance regime. The enhanced conditionality requirements of this regime had been justified by both paternalistic and contractualist arguments: but they were built on the premise that behavioural factors drove lone parent employment outcomes. Administrative data for England suggested that the transfer had increased lone-parent employment, that structural rather than behavioural drivers were more relevant causal factors, and that there was good reason to be concerned about the effect of the reforms on the well-being of lone parents and their children.
Source: Adam Whitworth, 'Lone parents and welfare-to-work in England: a spatial analysis of outcomes and drivers', Social Policy and Administration, Volume 47 Number 7
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Dec
An article examined the experiences of lone parent families as mothers transitioned into outside work, and examined the demands of sustaining employment on a low, but complex, income.
Source: Jane Millar and Tess Ridge, 'Lone mothers and paid work: the family-work project ', International Review of Sociology, Online first
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Nov
A report examined the likely impact of universal credit on the incomes and work incentives of lone-parent families, comparing the existing system of benefits and tax credits with universal credit. It found that many lone parents would face a real-terms loss under universal credit, although those who were not currently working would be better off by moving into work than was currently the case. The report outlined costed recommendations for improving the scheme.
Source: Mike Brewer and Paola DeAgostini, Credit Crunched: Single parents, universal credit and the struggle to make work pay, Gingerbread
Links: Report | Summary | Briefing | Gingerbread press release
Date: 2013-Oct
A think-tank report said that there was a significant discrepancy between official figures for the number of lone-parent households in England and Wales and the number of people who were claiming lone-parent tax credits. It said that at least 240,000 couples with children were pretending to live apart in order to claim the credits. The report called for the introduction of an additional child benefit for married couples with a child under the age of 3: this would counteract the 'couple penalty' that meant that couples with children were up to £7,100 better off if they were not married and pretended to live apart.
Source: Harry Benson, A Marriage Tax Break Must Counter the Crazy Incentive for Parents to 'Pretend to Live Apart', Marriage Foundation
Links: Report | Marriage Foundation press release
Date: 2013-Sep
A report presented findings from an impact assessment of 'lone parent obligations', under which (from November 2008) lone parents lost eligibility to income support solely on the grounds of being a lone parent. Three months after the loss of entitlement to income support, the obligations were estimated to have reduced the share of affected lone parents receiving any out-of-work benefit by between 11 and 13 percentage points, and to have increased the share in work by around 7 percentage points.
Source: Silvia Avram, Mike Brewer, and Andrea Salvatori, Lone Parent Obligations: An Impact Assessment, Research Report 845, Department for Work and Pensions
Date: 2013-Jul
An article examined the increasing use of conditionality in welfare-to-work programmes, using the treatment of lone parents as a case study. It traced the evolution and justificatory 'policy stories' behind the reforms, as well as evidence regarding their effect on lone parents' employment, income, and well-being. It was 'extremely difficult' to reconcile the research evidence with the persistent and strengthening policy claims of both Labour (1997-2010) and coalition (2010-) governments that existing welfare-to-work conditionality for lone parents was necessary, just, or effective.
Source: Adam Whitworth and Julia Griggs, 'Lone parents and welfare-to-work conditionality: necessary, just, effective?', Ethics and Social Welfare, Volume 7 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jun
A think-tank report said that the problem of family breakdown was continuing to worsen, with over 20,000 new lone-parent families forming every year. By the age of 15, almost half of all children were no longer living with both their parents, and a million children had no meaningful contact with their fathers. Family instability and breakdown was a driver of disadvantage and social exclusion, and strengthening and supporting families was therefore a matter of social justice. There was no simple causal explanation or solution. Despite the coalition government's family-focused rhetoric, its actions had thus far failed to reflect the central importance of the family in society.
Source: Fractured Families: Why stability matters, Centre for Social Justice
Links: Report | Summary | CSJ press release | Bath University press release | Gingerbread press release | BBC report | Daily Mail report | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-Jun
An article examined the impact on parents and children of the New Deal for Lone Parents under the previous Labour governments (1997-2010). It highlighted the role that economic and fiscal concerns had had in shaping the direction of policies aimed at parents. Government rhetoric had actively perpetuated a normative code of economic participation, in a political climate that appeared to increasingly marginalize and denigrate the work of social reproduction. It argued that policy-makers needed to engage with children when developing policies aimed at parents.
Source: Fiona Smith, 'Parents and policy under New Labour: a case study of the United Kingdom's new deal for lone parents', Children's Geographies, Volume 11 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-May
A study found that lone parents on the Work Programme were one-third less likely to find work than other participants – with just 2.5 per cent achieving job outcomes, compared with 3.5 per cent of all claimants. Lone parents were 'largely invisible' within the system: a lack of understanding among providers of the specific barriers that they faced, or of how to overcome these barriers, meant that they were not getting the support that they needed. Despite some moves to measure performance on 'sustainable job outcomes', the system was still more geared towards 'any job' than a job that lasted and provided a decent income.
Source: Adam Whitworth, Tailor Made? Single parents' experiences of employment support from Jobcentre Plus and the Work Programme, Gingerbread
Links: Report | Gingerbread press release | Guardian report
Date: 2013-Mar
A briefing paper presented a review of evaluations that considered the design, implementation, and impact of benefit sanctions, with a particular focus on the experience of lone parents subject to employment-related activity requirements.
Source: Dan Finn and Jo Casebourne, Lone Parent Sanctions: A review of international evidence, Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion
Links: Briefing
Date: 2013-Jan
A study examined lone parents' experiences of living on a low income in a rural community in Scotland. A number of factors contributed to well-being: but underpinning many issues was that of low income. Lone parents spoke of the problems of stress associated with dealing with financial problems. This was compounded by fears about the impact of welfare changes, and the rising costs of food and fuel. Some parents skipped meals to ensure that their children did not go without. Access to employment and employability services was hampered by a range of barriers including childcare, transport, and digital exclusion.
Source: Fiona McHardy, Surviving Poverty – The Impact of Lone Parenthood, Poverty Alliance
Links: Report | Poverty Alliance press release
Date: 2013-Jan