Over the past few weeks, Gingerbread’s policy and campaigns team have been busy attending the Liberal Democrat, Labour and Conservative party conferences. These events are an important opportunity to understand political parties’ priorities, connect with parliamentarians and hear from organisations across the sector. Here are some of our key takeaways and what they could mean for single-parent families. 

Liberal Democrat Conference 

Our first stop was Brighton for the Liberal Democrat Party Conference, where we spoke with MPs about the issues facing single-parent families, with a particular focus on the Child Maintenance Service (CMS). Several MPs told us about the high volume of CMS casework they’re seeing in their constituencies and expressed support for reform. With our #FixtheCMS report showing that child maintenance has a significant impact on the financial security of single-parent families, Gingerbread will continue to work with MPs to push for a CMS that works for separated families. 

Across the events we attended, there was strong support for tackling child poverty, reforming family courts, improving protections for victim-survivors of domestic abuse and creating a social security system that meets the needs of all families. 

The discussions around social security reform were particularly relevant to our #SupportNotPunish campaign, with different speakers highlighting the gaps in Universal Credit (UC) support and the impact of sanctions and harsh conditionality on families. This is a pertinent issue for single parents who, due to childcare responsibilities, are more likely to work in low-paid, part-time roles and must often rely on UC to make ends meet. Gingerbread will continue to push for a social security system provides single-parent families with the support they need. 

Labour conference 

Next, we headed to Liverpool for Labour Party Conference, where we heard discussions on a range of issues affecting families, including the rising cost of living, childcare, parental leave and pay, young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs) and violence against women and girls (VAWG). 

On VAWG, we heard about the progress being made against the government’s ambition the halve VAWG in a decade and the need for action to go further to truly meet the scale of the issue, including stronger action on prevention and increased protection and support for victim-survivors of domestic abuse. We were also encouraged to hear from businesses about the steps they’re taking to safeguard their customers, including banks offering the ability to hide abusive payment references. 

This cost of living was another key theme, with discussions highlighting the impact of rising housing and energy costs on household finances. Not only are these pressures pushing more families into debt and making it harder to afford essentials, but they’re also having a harmful impact on the mental and physical health of those affected. For single-parent families, these pressures are particularly acute: 41% of children in single-parent families live in poverty, and single-parent families are consistently the household type most likely to experience fuel poverty.  

We also heard calls for better parental leave and pay, alongside action to make childcare more affordable and accessible, both of which Gingerbread has called for. Childcare challenges remain one of the biggest barriers to work for single parents, with our Single Parent Debt Trap report finding that working more hours can increase the likelihood of experiencing problem debt for single parents due to high costs. 

Before heading off, we listened to the Prime Minister’s speech, which set out plans including public ownership of water and energy, a National Care Service, changes to the pension triple lock, leasehold reform and electoral reform. We’ll be following these plans closely to understand what they mean for single-parent families and to make sure their voices are part of the conversation. 

Conservative conference 

Our final stop was Birmingham for the Conservative Party Conference, where we were once again pleased to meet with parliamentarians to discuss how they can support our work to reform the CMS and improve support for single-parent families.  

The sessions we attended covered social security reform, NEETs and child poverty. Discussions highlighted the links between debt and people turning to food banks, as well as the importance of access to specialist debt and financial advice. Single parents were highlighted as a key group relying on food banks, reflecting the prevalence of poverty among single-parent families.  

This reflects findings from Gingerbread’s research, which highlights the financial pressures single parents face, including food insecurity and problem debt. Our Single Parent Debt Trap report shows that single parents are disproportionately likely to experience problem debt, while our #FixtheCMS report highlights the additional impact of challenges with the CMS. We found that 57% of parents with care who have a maintenance arrangement in place do not regularly receive the full amount. Of these, 51% are struggling to pay for food or going without meals, and 57% are getting into debt through overdrafts, credit cards, catalogues or loans.  

Gingerbread will continue to highlight these findings with parliamentarians and push for urgent action to improve the financial security of single-parent families. 

Summary and next steps 

Across all three conferences, it was clear that families across the UK are facing significant challenges in 2026. There was a growing sense that things cannot continue as they are, with the need for change a clear and recurring theme throughout this year’s party conference season.  

With the Autumn Budget 2026 approaching, we’re calling on the government to prioritise targeted support for single-parent families. In the coming weeks, we’ll be setting out the action we want to see in the Budget to meaningfully support single-parent families. We’ll also be following up with the MPs we spoke to at the conferences and supporting them to raise our campaign asks in Parliament. 

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