Number who claim UC in our area as ‘mums stuck in poverty trap’
Victoria Benson, Gingerbread chief executive, said: “These figures will come as no surprise to the vast majority of single parents – 90 per cent of whom are women.
“Single-parent families have only one household income, so many are forced to rely on UC to make ends meet. As many single mums are the primary carer for their children they are often stuck in jobs below their level of skill or qualification due to the damaging combination of a lack of quality, flexible work and expensive childcare.
“We really need this Government to pay more attention to the needs of single parents, we need to see all jobs advertised as flexible and UC paid at a realistic rate that reflects the actual cost of living. Otherwise, we’ll see more single-parent families stuck in the poverty trap.”
Gender equality charity the Fawcett Society has echoed calls for greater workplace support for parents. Alesha De-Freitas, Fawcett Society head of policy, said: “Working women are often trapped in lower-paid roles that offer flexibility, or locked out of work altogether on account of looking after others – resulting in, on average, women earning £574 less per month than men. Our data has shown time and again that women are at the sharp end of the economic crisis, with 53 per cent of women telling us that if they had more money, they would use it to put on their heating or lights more often.
“We also know women are more likely to be behind on their household bills.”