Being a single parent can make it harder on your finances.  We are fortunate we have two incomes coming in to support our family.  But not everyone does.  There are many single parent families where I live.  They find it difficult juggling their finances.  But on top of one less income there are other financial strains.  So what is the cost of single parent living?

Single parent families make up a quarter of families, so a lot of people are in this situation.  PayPlan want to raise awareness about the true cost of single parent living.  Hopefully it will help make it a fairer system for everyone.  Their financial struggles of being a single parent article was a real eye opener.  Single parent families do have an economic disadvantage.  Luckily the article has lots of tips that can help you manage your finances more efficiently.

I hadn’t even thought about some of the things mentioned in the article.  I guess you take a lot for granted when you have your partner to share the load, whether its extra funds or just assistance juggling childcare.  Fortunately I have his support when I need it.

But lots of children are being brought up in single parent families.  Below are some of the issues they face:

Childcare

My husband is fortunate I work from home and have the flexibility to be available for school pick up and holidays.  But single parent living means less help to effectively manage childcare.  There needs to be more affordable childcare to help people who need to rely on it to access better paid jobs.

Special Offers

Single parents also seem to be penalised when it comes to offers.  Many deals are geared up for two parent families.  Just look at the list below it really is surprising what an impact it makes.

This often means single parent families are more likely to get into debt just to give their children the same days out and trips that two parents get at a fraction of the cost.

Affording Non-Essentials

If you are trying to be both the main carer and main earner something has to give.  You might be able to afford the day to day essentials at a push.  But anything extra is so hard to budget for and adds a lot of additional stress and pressure.  Holidays, birthdays, Christmas, anything beyond the bare minimum (food, bills and rent) is a luxury!  According to Gingerbread a charity which support single parent families this group have the highest poverty rate amongst working age households.  So just making ends meet is enough of a struggle, compounded with the unfairness of special offers making things tougher again!

Low Paid Work

Single parents often get stuck in low paid jobs because they don’t have much flexibility with childcare.  There isn’t much job security either as zero-hour contracts seem the norm.  It just seems so unfair for single parents that want better prospects and work really hard to try and improve themselves.  For opportunities to then pass them by because they are restricted by childcare commitments.