POLICY work
Our policy work focuses on ending single parent discrimination, both overall and by tackling individual discriminatory policies. Below is an outline of our key policy work which is in the public domain.
Child Poverty Strategy
The new Labour Government has set up a Child Poverty Taskforce which will develop a Child Poverty Strategy, due to be published Spring 2025. This Strategy development process is critically important for single parent families, 44% of whom live in poverty. That's why, together with nine other single parent organisations, we wrote to the co-Chairs of the Taskforce - the Secretaries of State for Education and Work & Pensions - to ask them to include single parents as a key stakeholder throughout this process. You can download the letter we sent them below and read about it in the Byline Times here.
A Single Parent Manifesto
Whichever party wins the General Election on 4th July, we want to see real change which places single parents at the heart of UK policy making, from legal protections to social security.
Download our manifesto below to learn more.
Single Parentism within the Private Rental Sector
Single parents are much more likely to be living in rented housing than coupled families and they are much more likely to be in receipt of housing benefit. 65% of single parent families with dependent children are in receipt of housing benefit, compared with 35% of couples with dependent children. This makes it all the more worrying that single parents face three key forms of discrimination when trying to rent privately in the UK. Namely:
Discrimination for being in receipt of housing benefit (so called, ‘no DSS’ clauses)
Discrimination for having a child
Discrimination for being a single parent (regardless of financial means)
We are calling on the government to outlaw these forms of discrimination. You can read more about the problem and our proposed solutions in the briefing below. If you want to help end single parentsim within the UK rental sector, please do share this briefing with your MP and the Secretary of State for housing, Angela Rayner MP on correspondence@communities.gov.uk
UC Work Conditionality Changes
The increases to work search requirements for single parents on UC is a huge blow to single parent families. You can find out more about what this policy change means and how it will be implemented here. You can also learn more about our campaign against this policy change here. You can download our policy briefing paper below and listen to the evidence we gave at the Work and Pensions Committee on the impact of increased work conditionality on single parents.
Labour Childcare Review
Labour’s Shadow Education Minister, Bridget Phillipson, commissioned Sir David Bell to undertake a review of childcare in the UK. As part of this we have submitted our views on what needs to change for single parents. Our submission focuses purely on the needs of single parents. We appreciate there are broader issues around accessibility and affordability but we feel this focus is necessary for two reasons. Firstly, we are contributing to a joint submission which will emphasize these issues and we know there have been multiple submissions raising those points already. Secondly, we feel the specific single parent needs are not generally highlighted in reviews such as this, therefore we felt it important to focus in on that. You can download our submission below.
Labour Policy Forum
In March 2023, we submitted a paper to the Labour Policy Forum to highlight the policies we believe need to be at the heart of any political party that seeks to support single parent families. You can download our paper below.
UK Government’s Childcare Inquiry
In January 2023, we submitted evidence to the UK government’s Education Committee inquiry into support for childcare and early years.
Universal Credit and Childcare Costs Inquiry
In January 2022, we submitted evidence to the UK government’s Work and Pensions Select Committee inquiry into Universal Credit and Childcare Support. The report which was created from the enquiry is available to download below. Single Parent Rights is quoted on page 31 of the report. The government’’s response to the Committee’s recommendations are due at the end of February 2023.
Equalities Minister
On Single Parents Day, 21st March 2021, we wrote an open letter to the Equalities Minister Liz Truss to request an urgent meeting to discuss the ongoing discrimination single parents face, our research findings and a road map to equality for single parents, including the need to add single parents to the Equality Act. You can download the letter below.
Motions of Support
Numerous single parents have successfully passed motions of support for our key campaign to add single parents to the UK Equality Act with various institutions. This includes, UNISON North West’s Women’s Forum; Hackney Council; Southwark Council; Norwich Council and Clyde South Constituency Labour Party.