‘Trying times’ for lone parent families juggling work and care
THOUSANDS OF single parents across Yorkshire will be “hit hard” by the coronavirus lockdown, charities have warned.
With schools closed, homes in lockdown and job insecurity rife, experts say more support is needed for Yorkshire’s 169,774 one-parent families.
The charity Gingerbread, which helps single parents, said it has seen an influx of calls in response to the outbreak.
Chief executive Victoria Benson said: “Our helplines for the local groups have been overwhelmed with single parents asking, what do they do, as well as practical questions about isolation and lots of financial issues, as well as lots of issues about maintenance and issues with the nonresident parent.
“We’re all expected to look after our children from home but most single parents can’t work from home. Even if you are paid
CHANTAL NOGBOU: to work from home, how can you work from home and do your job and look after your children at the same time?”
Mother-of-four Chantal Nogbou,41, from Leeds, said financial concerns were her biggest worry after she was forced to stop work as an acupuncturist. Now at home with eight-year-old twins Neveah and Isla, and son Kenzo, 14, she is looking into establishing online consultations as a way to keep her family running.
“It’s hard because if I were in a couple, then we’d probably have two wages to fall back on. We keep hearing that the support for self-employed will come, but it is a worry not knowing what is going to happen.”
Juggling work commitments is a huge concern for Laura Jackson, 32, from Selby, who works parttime in accounts while bringing up Jack, two, and Evie, four.
She has spent the past week sorting IT equipment to work from home, but it “suddenly dawned on her” it was going to be just her and the children when she attempted to do some work only for her wifi to fail.
“I thought I was doing really well, but then I realised we were only a few days in,” she said.
Last week, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced measures to support low income families, including an increase to Universal Credit.