Single Parents: The forgotten group in D&I strategies.

By Ruth Talbot,

Powered By Diversity Collective member & Founder of Single Parent Rights

THE STATUS OF SINGLE PARENTS IN THE UK

There are 2.9 million single parents in the UK. One in four families are headed by a single parent and at least one in three will experience single parenting at some point. 

Many people think they know single parents. But where do these beliefs come from? Ask the average person what they think of a single parent and you're never too far away from the word 'benefits'. Rarely do they mean the marriage tax allowance benefits denied to single parents, or the double income allowance of child benefit entitlement for couples, or even the 'benefit' of having two people to cover the roles of breadwinner and carer in the home (whichever way that is divided). 

How many people know that nearly 70% of single parents are in paid employment? Or that children who experience single parenting have the highest levels of wellbeing of children from all family types? The fact that these figures run parallel to the very real challenges single parent families face, from high poverty rates (working age single parents have the highest rate of poverty at 43%) to poor mental health (single mothers face almost double the rate of mental ill health as mothers in couples) speaks volumes.   

SINGLE PARENTS IN DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION STRATEGIES

Recent research from the campaign group Single Parent Rights, highlighted that up to 80% of single parents have faced discrimination – from stigma and negative stereotyping to exclusion from government policies. The need for single parents to be included in diversity and inclusion strategies has never been more necessary, yet very few institutions consider addressing the entrenched stereotypes and bias towards single parent families.

The exclusion of single parents from D & I strategies, is part of the very reason single parents need to be incorporated – the invisibility of single parents from society. Without businesses and education institutions tackling these entrenched views and ensuring their own policies and practices are inclusive of single parent families, the discrimination faced by single parent families will continue as it has for generations.

FINDING A WAY FORWARD

It is essential that single parent families are included from the books we read to our children, to the comments we make in the boardroom. There are so many ways in which businesses and education institutions can play their part, from considering how to run parents’ evenings so single parents and separated families with complex stories can engage in a safe and meaningful way, to ensuring single parent employees can access career development opportunities.

Single Parent Rights have joined with Powered By Diversity to push for real change. It is only through addressing all issues of diversity and inclusion holistically that we can create a truly fair and prosperous society. Powered By Diversity provides an opportunity for schools and businesses to monitor their progress towards equality and access resources and groups who can support that journey.

At Single Parent Rights we are keen to work with businesses and organisations who want to ensure their policies and practices are inclusive of single parent families.  We do this by addressing the stigma, bias, and the lack of legal protections afforded single parents. 

Any organisation can sign up to support our campaign asking the UK government to add single parents as a protected characteristic alongside married people in the Equality Act, 2010.

We hope that by helping to elevate the voice of single parents in the UK we can push for real change so that when new policies are considered the impact on single parents’ is assessed before implementation to ensure that any necessary amendments are made so that single parent families are not excluded or penalised.  

If you want to learn more about being Single Parent inclusive in your business or school, contact us on singleparentrights@gmail.com or visit our website: www.singleparentrights.org