No progress on poverty means over half of single parent families left to flounder
Fiona Weir, Chief Executive of Gingerbread, said:
“These figures show dismal progress for a Government that had promised to halve child poverty by 2010. Every figure in this report is a family locked into the daily struggle of scraping together enough money to pay for fuel as well as food.
“This year the number of children and adults, who are deprived of basics such as going on school trips or celebrating a birthday, has risen by a shocking 200,000. Many of these people will feel the same way today as they felt yesterday and will do tomorrow – trapped and forgotten.
“52 per cent of single parent families remain poor. This is exactly the same percentage as was reported last year. This year, just like last year, 40 per cent (161,2000) of poor children in the UK are living with single parent. Poor families cannot opt out of their situation, the Government must not opt out of its target to lift half of their children out of poverty.
“When we talk about households in poverty, we mean parents who can’t afford to buy shoes when a child’s feet have grown. Children whose parents can’t afford to take them on a bus or buy anything first-hand - toys or clothes. We are talking about single parents who struggle with food bills and are living in a situation where something unexpected like a broken fridge or extortionate bill can push the family into debt, and potential eviction.
“Single parents are calling Gingerbread to talk about the guilt and shame they feel about
being unable to give their own children what other families take for granted. As a member of the campaign to end child poverty we are calling on the Government to do more to lift children out of hardship.”
Notes for Editors
For case studies that show the true face of poverty amongst single parents and their children, please contact: Miranda Yates, tel 020 7428 5416
Being in poverty is defined as living in a household with less than 60% of median income.
The number of children living in a household that was both in low income and lacking key items – that is it was in ‘material deprivation’ went up by 200,000 (no single parent breakdown).
