The impact of unemployment on single parents
Single parents face an unemployment challenge
Gingerbread
March 2022
This interim report by charity Gingerbread highlights the barriers preventing far too many single parents from moving into sustainable work after the pandemic. Research shows the key areas making this difficult include:
- A lack of back to work support
- High cost of childcare
- Lack of flexible jobs
Single parents are less likely to be in work than coupled parents and the report finds evidence they are already experiencing longer term unemployment after the pandemic.
The report puts forward recommendations that could help overcome these difficulties:
- Provide back to work support
- Offer support to retrain
- Clearer means of calculating earnings, including benefits
- Flexible working options
- More available and affordable childcare
The final report will be published later this year.
