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London lone parents' choices around work and care - research report
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October 2007
The research for this report was commissioned and approved by The London Child Poverty Commission, an independent Commission appointed by the Mayor of London and London Councils (formerly the ALG).
The report was written by Vicki Peacey, Research and Policy Officer, One Parent Families.
Download the full report below.
Background
The Government's target for lone parent employment is to have 70 per cent of lone parents in paid work by 2010. At present, 56 per cent of lone parents are working, and this figure has increased steadily in recent years.
However, employment rates for lone parents in London lag behind the national average, and the latest figures show that 45 per cent of lone parents in London are in paid work compared to 58 per cent of lone parents outside London (GLA 2007). The children of non-working lone parents are at a very high risk of poverty, with 75 per cent living below the government-defined poverty line (DWP 2007b).
The Government's view is that paid work is the best route out of poverty for families, including lone parent families (DWP 2007a). As such, the relatively low employment rate and high poverty rate of lone parents in London is a cause for concern.
One Parent Families|Gingerbread was commissioned to undertake this research on behalf of the London Child Poverty Commission set up by the Mayor of London and London Councils in 2006, in order to gain an insight into how London lone parents make the decision on whether or not to work.
Six focus groups were held around London, involving 27 lone parents; three groups with working parents and three groups with non-working parents. Many of the parents who were working at present had spent some time on Income Support, and nearly all of the parents who were not working had been in paid work in the past. Some of the non-working lone parents were currently searching for work, and all were hoping to move back into employment when the time was right.
A further focus group comprised ten non-working parents of children with disabilities. The groups lasted an hour and a half, and all participants received a thank-you gift, or participation incentive, of £20. All participants were female, and the recruitment method used for this research means that certain groups of lone parents are likely to have been under-represented; men, parents without internet access, parents whose spoken English is poor, and parents who were less motivated to join a lone parent charity.
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