The Single Parent Employment Challenge – job loss and job seeking after the pandemic
New report from Gingerbread published on 6 February 2022.
Summary
The Single Parent Employment Challenge project explored single parents’ experiences of the UK labour market, as we emerged from pandemic restrictions from mid-2021. Focusing on those single parents who experienced unemployment during the pandemic, it looked at the routes that led to them becoming unemployed and to re-enter the workforce, their attitudes to and experiences of job-seeking and back-to-work support, the interaction of work plans and childcare, and the implications of the emerging cost of living crisis.
Key Findings
We found that single parents want to work, but experience consistently higher unemployment rates than couple parents. They also want to work more hours than they currently do and are frequently having to put their career aspirations aside to take on roles that better fit with childcare options and school hours. This means many are on lower incomes than they would otherwise be. It also means that at a time employers are struggling to fill vacancies, they are missing out on the potential of single parents, because of the way they structure roles.
While childcare costs are a key barrier for single parents in getting into work, single parents are being held back significantly by the shortfall of suitable flexible part-time roles, as well as a lack of tailored employment support from Jobcentre Plus.
Recommendations
On the basis of our findings, we have made a number of policy recommendations that would help bring down childcare costs, particularly for those on the lowest incomes or out of work, improve support from Jobcentre Plus for single parents trying to find work and that would help change the employment landscape so that more flexible and options for part-time working across all sectors becomes the norm.
Gingerbread is the leading national charity working with single parent families. Our mission is to champion and enable single parent families to live secure, happy, and fulfilling lives. Since 1918, we have been supporting, advising, and campaigning with single parents to help them meet the needs of their families and achieve their goals. We want to create a world in which diverse families can thrive. We will not stop working until we achieve this vision. Whatever success means for a single parent – a healthy family, a flexible job, stable finances, or a chance to study – we work with them to make it happen.
