Summary Drawing on analysis of Labour Force Survey data, qualitative interviews with 16 single parents in London and discussions with Jobcentre Plus Partnership Managers, this report explores the impact of extending the job-seeking requirement under Universal...

Summary Drawing on a review of the existing evidence as well as new quantitative  and qualitative research, this report summarises what is known about in-work progression for single parents across England and Wales. The report outlines...

With the rollout of Universal Credit (UC) and its associated aim for recipients to increase their pay, in-work progression is set to become increasingly important for many single parents in London. Currently, single parents in the...

From 2014 – 2018, Gingerbread delivered Talent Match London to young single parents across 9 (revised to 7) boroughs in the capital. This report summarises the evaluation we conducted at the end of the project,...

This report summarises the learning from the evaluation of the Gingerbread Single Parent Helpline. The Helpline is part of Gingerbread’s advice and information service, and provides free and confidential support and advice on the range...

This review synthesizes what is currently known about single parents’ take-up and experiences of apprenticeships and traineeships in Britain, with a particular focus on London. On the basis of this evidence, we consider how far...

Single parents today In the UK: There are around 1.8 million single parents – they make up nearly a quarter of families with dependent children (i) Around one per cent of single parents are teenagers (ii) Around 90 per...

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References for Single Parents Today and Then and Now i. ONS (2017) Families and households, 2017. Table 1. ii. Gingerbread analysis of Labour Force Survey (April-June 2018). iii. See reference i. iv. See reference i. Statistics last updated February 2019

Summary The benefit cap is not fit for purpose for single parent families. The policy also does not fulfil government intentions for the welfare system or wider society. The benefit cap should be abandoned, given its failings....

Key findings The benefit cap is at odds with other parts of the welfare system, and fails to recognise single parents’ intent or ability to work – meaning they have little chance to escape the cap,...

Summary Over a million single parents will eventually need to migrate from legacy benefits (including tax credits) to Universal Credit. It is vital that this process minimises the financial risk to low income families – particularly...

Key findings The managed migration process proposed by draft regulations places too much risk of financial loss on claimants, rather than government. The DWP must do more to demonstrate that systems and processes are ready for...

Summary Gingerbread’s research shows that – contrary to government intentions – sanctions are not an effective tool to ensure either job-seeking behaviour among single parent claimants or effective public spending. The government must overhaul ‘conditionality’ (the rules setting...

Key findings Benefit sanctions do not fulfil the government’s intentions to change behaviour (thereby moving people into work), nor to ensure ‘fairness for the taxpayer’ Single parent benefit sanctions tend to arise due to one-off errors or...