childcare

“I have had to borrow money from friends to pay for childcare up front and it left us with next to nothing to spend during the holidays, it felt like my children and I were being punished for me being a single parent.”

“The profession I am trained to do (Midwifery) requires shift working, including nights, which is impossible to find childcare for as a solo parent with no family support.”

“Childcare costs in the school holidays are just over £90 per day for both of my children combined, which is more than I earn in a day.”

attitudes towards single parents

“I worked with an almost all male team, who either had older children or no children, and I felt like I was totally unreliable, stressed out all the time, I would feel like a failure”

“Understanding an individual’s circumstances, valuing them for the different perspective they can bring to the table is such an important part, and my experiences as a single mum should be championed, not seen as a downfall. I very rarely sleep through the night, I have nursery drop off and pick up, work, bedtime, house and garden chores, I feel like some of my colleagues would simply crumble doing my schedule for longer than a week.”

flexible work

“Once I became a single parent my career was over, I had no choice to look for and apply for anything that suited my available hours rather that my qualifications, knowledge and skills.”

“It’s not that us single parents lack skill or ambition, but rather that we lack support and opportunity!”

“trying to get another job as a single parent was absolutely impossible. There was NO flexible or part time or job share opportunities and no employer would even consider it”

promotion and professional development

“Working single parents haven’t got time to spend raising their profile. If they do a good job they should be just as eligible and visible for promotions.”

“Not enough paid study time is given even though the workplace benefits from our further development and limits us if we don't.”

“The business only ever wants their needs met, they may accommodate parents with flexibility but this comes at a cost of sacrificing their career because managers do not want to promote, or give opportunities to individuals whose priorities are not solely on the business.”

“A manager within my company told me not to try to ‘have it all’ regarding being a solo mum and wanting to progress professionally.”

single parentism

“A number of development opportunities have been denied to me since being widowed which were previously offered to me when my husband was alive”

“there is an undercurrent of concern that I won’t be able to do the job (i.e. put in extra hours) because I am a single parent”

“I think we are easy targets for bullying”

“People instantly assume I can’t do things, and often will make the decision for me. I also feel I have to work harder as a single parent to prove myself than my counterpart in a different circumstance.”

“I have been penalised at my employer for being unmarried as I would receive extra death in service benefit if I was married than I do because I am unmarried.”

“I was told it was either my job or my children.”

SINGLE DADS

“I believe it is even more challenging as a man because of the preconceptions of people. No one expects a man to have such big responsibilities of children.”

“All professionals and general people assume that the mum is the main carer. Many are shocked and surprised that I do 50% of the childcare.”

work-life balance

“single parents never get a break. The children come first, work comes second, and a very distant third is yourself”

“it's a constant juggle, constant stress, and constant heavy load of responsibility that is resting solely on one pair of shoulders.”

“To have zero time to yourself or downtime day in, day out - especially whilst being under additional strain from juggling childcare during a pandemic - has a very negative effect on physical and mental health very quickly.”