In the first of a series of reports from the frontline of the cost-of-living crisis, the Guardian today reports on the impact of cuts to state support by successive Conservative governments, which have left single-parent women in a much weaker position to cope. with the shocks of the pandemic and rising prices for essential items such as food and heating. The vast majority of Britain’s 1.8 million single-parent families – almost nine out of 10 – are headed by women. Together, they are raising 3.1 million children – more than a fifth of all children. Q&A

Single mothers in the UK

projection About a quarter of all families with children in Britain are headed by single parents. After increases between the 1970s and 1990s, this percentage has remained largely the same since 2001. The percentage of single parents who are fathers has remained at around 10% for more than 10 years. There are approximately 1.8 million single-parent families with dependent children (under 16 or 16-18 in full-time education) raising 3.1 million children together. 90% of single parents are women. Despite stereotypes of young mums, less than 1% are teenagers, while their average age is 39, according to single parent charity Gingerbread. Most have only one child, 55%, while about 32% have two and 13% have three or more children. Boris Johnson, before he became prime minister, wrote in a controversial column in 1995 that there had been a “terrible proliferation of single mothers”, fueling the media stereotype of single parents. He referred to what he described as the “problem” of single parenthood, blaming “the sad and irresponsible women who became pregnant in the absence of a husband”. According to Gingerbread, just under half (44%) of single parents were married when they had their children, before separating, separating or surviving their partner. Single fathers are more than three times more likely to be widowed than single mothers. Around a fifth of lone parents are from black or minority ethnic backgrounds, compared with 16% nationally, while more than a quarter have a disability, compared with 14% of couple parents. Thanks for your response. Research shared exclusively with the Guardian by the Institute for Fiscal Studies sets out the scale of the crisis. It shows that relative poverty for children in single-parent families has risen at a significantly faster rate than for other households. Relative poverty is defined as income less than 60% of the national average, adjusted for household size. For lone parents, this measure of poverty rose by nine percentage points between 2013-14 and 2019-20 to reach 49% at the start of the global health emergency. In contrast, the proportion of children in two-parent families increased by only two percentage points to 25%. Tony Blair, the former Labor prime minister, warned that a “painful cost of living” was hitting families and that progress in tackling child poverty was being seriously undermined by sweeping benefit cuts over the past decade. IFS Poverty Chart Ending child poverty by 2020 was a key pledge made by Blair during his first term in government at the turn of the millennium. However, the study by the IFS suggests that progress has been reversed under the Conservatives amid the post-2008 financial crisis austerity drive. “The last Labor government made tackling child poverty a priority. Our policies revolutionized opportunities for lone parents by making work pay – lone parent employment increased and child poverty fell sharply as a result,” Blair said. “That legacy has been undermined over the past decade as government benefits have eroded, growth has been weak and wages stagnant, despite high employment rates for single parents.” Q&A

Timeline: a decade of welfare cuts

projection 2008: Job search rules: Work reduces the age of the youngest child when a single parent on benefits has to look for paid work from 16 to 12. 2009: The lone parent job search rule is reduced to 10 years. 2010: The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition was elected. The rule for lone parents to look for work is reduced to seven years. 2012: The rule for lone parents to look for work is reduced to five years. 2013: A benefit cap was imposed. It limits the maximum amount in benefits a household can receive to £26,000 a year for a family. The roll-out of universal credit begins. 2015: The Conservatives form a majority government. The freeze of benefits for four years began. This meant that in 2016 onwards the value of benefits remained at 2015 levels, allowing inflation to systematically reduce the value of benefits. 2016: The benefit cap has been reduced to £23,000 a year in London and £20,000 elsewhere. 2017: A limit of two children on benefits was established. Universal Credit claimants no longer receive additional support for a third or subsequent child. The rule for seeking work by lone parents is limited to three years. Single parents have to prepare for work when their youngest is one or two. Thanks for your response. Figures from the charity Child Poverty Action Group show that 3.9 million children were living in poverty in the UK last year, more than a quarter of all children or eight in a class of 30. Linking growing divisions in society to the decade of austerity imposed by Conservative-led governments, the IFS said the rise in poverty for children living in single-parent households “reflects reductions in the real value of state benefits in the years 2011 to 2019”. Among the support cuts that have hit single mothers hardest are the benefit cap, a four-year freeze on benefits between 2016 and 2020, the two-child limit and lowering the age of the youngest child when lone parents have to start looking work. Food insecurity table Before 2008, lone parents could claim income support until their youngest child was 16, or 19 in full education. After changes first introduced by the last Labor government and made much tougher by the Conservative-led coalition, this age limit has been repeatedly lowered. Now single parents are expected to prepare for work when their youngest reaches one year and then work from the age of three. “It absolutely increases child poverty,” said Morag Treanor, professor of child and family inequalities at Heriot-Watt University. “Lone parents don’t have the security to build up what’s needed to look for work until they get their children to school or appropriate childcare. It’s very damaging, it’s painful and it has an impact on mothers and children.” With households across the country facing the worst inflation shock since the 1980s, charities warned that single mothers were being hit harder by rising energy prices and the rising cost of a weekly shop. Victoria Benson, the chief executive of Gingerbread, the charity for one-parent families, said: “The pandemic and the cost of living crisis have made their lives much worse and the welfare system is simply not providing the level of support they need. “ She said the charity had heard of a single mother who does not eat when her children are with their father, a mum who ate nothing but a single sandwich for three days because she had run out of money and food was going out in refrigerators because electricity supply is not affordable. “This government urgently needs to do more,” he said. Single parents are more likely to have visited a food bank. Photo: Anthony Devlin/Getty Images Revealing the challenge for single mothers, separate research shared exclusively with the Guardian by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found that lone parents were more likely to be food insecure amid the cost of living crisis – with 70% going hungry and skipping meals compared. with 55% for non-lone parents. From a survey of around 4,000 people on low incomes, carried out last month, the poverty charity said 40% were unable to keep their home warm compared to 31% for two-parent families . Lone parents were more likely to have taken on new debt, visited a food bank and gone without a bath, shower or basic toiletries. The IFS, which will publish a wider report on poverty and inequality later this month, also found steady progress in reducing absolute poverty rates for children of lone parents, in addition to rising relative levels. Defined as income below a fixed poverty line, adjusted for inflation and household size, he suggested this was unusual after years of flat earnings in the early 2000s. “Lone parents on low incomes are particularly dependent on benefit income. These benefit cuts have offset rising work incomes in recent years, which have been large for lone parents,” it said. Experts said the benefit cap introduced by George Osborne was among the biggest economic hit to single mothers. Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA Experts said the benefit cap, first imposed in 2013, and the four-year freeze on benefits, were among the biggest drivers of financial damage for single mothers. Launched by former chancellor George Osborne as a crackdown on those he claimed were “living a lifetime” on public assistance, the benefit cap limits total benefits, including housing costs, to £20,000 a year for families outside London and £23,000 in the capital. , regardless of family needs. Official figures released last month showed that 67% of capped households, or around 80,000, are single-parent families. Alison Garnham, chief executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, said: “This worrying research is a wake-up call that shows the need for extra support for families with children in response to the cost of living crisis. “It’s no surprise to see…