I had the pleasure of speaking at a Clore Social Programme information Day in March this year. My immediate reaction was “Really? ME?? I hate public speaking. What would I even say??”

And then I stopped listening to my internal critic and started to reflect on my experience as a full time Clore Social Fellow and what I could share to encourage others to apply for the Fellowship. So here are some key reflections on why I applied, the impact it has had on me and why I encourage you to take the plunge.

Why I applied

I strongly believe that many things in life are about timing. When I applied for the Programme, I had recently moved back to London and had taken on a 12 month contract.  I had spent many years in the homelessness sector and was at a point in my career where the question “what next?” was becoming more and more urgent.

Just around this time I trained as an action learning facilitator. I met Ruth Cook from Action Learning Associates and she suggested that I take look at the Fellowship. I went home the same evening and did a bit of research – it was just what I was looking for. Leadership development is scarce in the homelessness sector so this was an opportunity to explore “what next?”, as well as build on the experience and skills I already had.

The impact

I completed the programme officially in December 2013 having undertaken it full time, and went back into employment in January 2014. I am still processing the impact of the Fellowship on me, both personally and professionally, but here is what has been the most immediate:

• I have a renewed commitment to social justice.
• I’ve learned that social leadership is about impact. What’s your impact on others? What’s the impact of what you’re doing?
• Coaching has given me invaluable insight and awareness, and reflective practice has become an obsession!
• I have expanded my professional networks in a way that was not available to me before
• The overall experience helped me to connect with the values that drive me. This has given me confidence in living those values, and in leading social change.

It is not a magic wand. When you return to the ‘real world’ there will still be challenges, you will still have crisis of confidence, things will go wrong. The difference for me is that I’m more comfortable with this and my own ability to move through these moments and learn from them.

So, why should you apply?

The Clore Social Leadership Programme is a commitment – there’s no doubt about that. You will be challenged and stretched in ways you never imagined at the start. But if you are considering applying for a Fellowship I would encourage you to do it. Why?

Because the programme will support you to lead impact for the people that matter.

Because the opportunity for real personal and professional development is rare.

Because the experience can act as a catalyst for change on many levels.

Because it will broaden your horizons.

Because good leadership in the social sector is needed now more than ever.

Find out more about how to apply at www.cloresocialleadership.org.uk/how-to-apply

La Toyah McAllister-Jones is a 2013 Clore Social Fellow, and is currently the personalisation development project manager at St Mungos Broadway, and an Associate at Collaborate. 

The effects of this state of food insecurity are widespread and dramatic. Public health experts have warned that the rise of malnutrition in the UK “has all the signs of a public health emergency”, with a 74 per cent increase in the number of malnutrition-related hospital admissions since 2008-09.

Call to action

The Just Fair Consortium calls on the Government to draw up a national right to food strategy and action plan, including an assessment of the ‘state of enjoyment’ of this right. Any further deterioration in income levels which undermine people’s ability to access food, shelter and basic services must be avoided. The Government must close the gap between income and food costs, including  the  introduction  of  employment  legislation  to  ensure  the  minimum  wage  is a  ‘living wage ‘ based on actual living costs.

Just Fair is asking the Government to take urgent action to reduce benefit delays, review how benefit sanctions and welfare reforms are being implemented and reduce unnecessary hardship, hunger and distress.  This action could include revising, or terminating, the benefit cap, and indexing benefits to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), in order to reverse the growing gap between benefit levels and food costs. As part of its human rights  duties, we are calling on the Government to mobilise all available resources, and make full use of its tax and spending powers, to deal with the national food crisis.

Paul Hunter, Head of Research at the Smith Institute,  discusses the changing face of suburbia and the findings of a new report ‘Poverty in Suburbia’

From Abigail’s Party to Keeping Up Appearances, suburbia has long been synonymous with relative comfort and cheery affluence. Yet the stereotype of suburbs as places inhabited solely by the upwardly mobile middle classes belies the number of those in poverty who live on the edges of our cities and towns. Indeed, as our new report, Poverty in Suburbia, demonstrates, an increasing number of people  in suburbs are now living in poverty.  There are approximately 6.8 million people in poverty in the suburbs of England and Wales – or put another way – 57% of those in poverty live in the suburbs.

To date tracking poverty in suburbs has not taken place. There have been occasional interventions, such as Boris Johnson arguing that welfare reform would result in a social cleansing of inner London and a flight to the suburbs, as well as growing interest in the issue from the US – but there have been few studies in the UK. Indeed, there are no official statistics on suburbia.

To help fill this information gap we used a range of indicators to map poverty and evaluate which ‘at risk’ groups are most common in suburbs. We looked in detail at incidences of poverty in eight major cities and found that there are significant socio-economic trends in the suburbs which have been largely ignored and which may worsen with continued budget cuts and pressure/reductions in services. For example, of those at risk of poverty there were higher concentrations of lone parents, part-time workers, people with a disability, and pension credit recipients in the suburbs than the rest of the country.

What is more many of the risk factors appear to be increasing in suburbs and the number of suburban neighbourhoods with above average levels of poverty has risen by 33% over the last decade. In addition, more people per head are on benefits (pension credit, job seeker’s allowance, income support and disability living allowance) in the suburbs than the rest of the country. And the claimant rates have increased more per head (or decreased less) in the suburbs since the recession.

These findings suggest the need for a greater focus on the suburbs by government (both local and central), policy makers and anti-poverty campaigners. This is even more of an imperative given that higher housing costs and a lack of affordable housing in inner cities is thought to be forcing poorer tenants out to the suburbs. This phenomena, combined with predicted rises in child poverty rates, could mean that poverty becomes even more prevalent in suburbia.

Poverty in suburbia has been ignored for too long. With a majority of people in poverty living in suburbs there needs to be a much better understanding of the issue. Many suburban areas have been badly affected by reductions in local authority and central government spending.

Suburbs may not be looked upon with great affection by some, yet they remain places where people want to live.  It is important to ensure that what attracted people to suburbia in the first place is not eroded.  This is not to say suburbs should be only for the relatively wealthy, but rather that particular suburbs most in need of support should not be overlooked.  This requires not only renewal and investment in the built environment but also greater understanding of the resilience of their local economies and social infrastructure.  We need to reimagine how we view suburbia and rethink how we support poorer suburbs.  Failure to do so risks overlooking the majority of people in poverty.

Jessica Kennedy of the Migrant and Refugee Communities Forum celebrates  the legacy of the Women on the Move Awards

On Thursday 6th March, 260 people gathered at the Southbank Centre to celebrate the achievements of inspirational women from refugee and migrant communities. The Women on the Move Awards, part of the WOW Festival and supported by Barrow Cadbury Trust are held to recognise the outstanding contributions that refugee women make to empowering and integrating their communities.  My organisation – The Forum – co-hosts the Awards alongside Migrants Rights Network and UNHCR.

The Awards are more than just a one night event, and aim to make an ongoing and lasting difference to the winners and their communities. The women gain recognition for, and raise the profile of, their work.  In addition, a fellowship provides access to high quality leadership development and help to build a network of exceptional women and the organisations they work with.

A month after the awards, as the dust has settled and the plaudits die down, what has changed?

Connections

Lilian Seenoi, who founded the only migrant forum in Derry-Londonderry from her kitchen table, won the Women of the Year Award for her work to ensure migrants and refugees can access support. The North-West Migrants Forum brings together diverse migrant groups and local communities which have suffered years of tension. The Awards have catapulted Lilian onto an international stage – she has just come back from Brussels, where she contributed to a public debate at the European Union on practical steps to challenge the poor treatment of migrants in Greece. She is shortly to fly to Turin, Italy, to take part in a European-wide project to tackle hate speech, before another visit to Brussels. All that before running a festival in June to bring together communities building on Derry-Londonderry’s place as UK City of Culture in 2013.

International attention also followed Tatiana Garavito, winner of the Young Woman of the Year Award for her tireless and determined work with the Latin American community in London. El Espectador, a mainstream newspaper in Colombia, published an article about Tatiana.  A short film commissioned by the Women on the Move Awards about Tatiana’s work will be shown at a documentary film festival in Colombia.  After the Awards Tatiana said they were “an amazing opportunity for us migrant women to show the world what we can achieve given a fair chance”.

Those who attended the Awards also found powerful connections. My personal highlight of the night was seeing, in the crush of the after-party, members of a collective of domestic workers connecting with a woman who works with Lilian and the North-West Migrants Forum and is trying to tackle exploitative labour practices in Northern Ireland. This fledgling relationship is continuing and already leading to mutual support, learning and, ultimately, stronger and more effective organisations.

Interest

Although the Awards receive little coverage from major news organisations, the winners and their organisations gain interest from a variety of other sources. Diana Nammi, who founded the Iranian-Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation (IKWRO) as a reaction to ‘honour’ killing and violence, was given special recognition for her tireless work. On the night, IKWRO’s twitter followers notably increased.  All our winners have been inundated with requests for interviews and articles.

Films that Women on the Move made about the Award winners have reached 5,561 viewers – spreading these courageous stories even further. As organisers, we are so glad to see how the Awards create a platform for extraordinary women to shout about their own and their organisations’ great work.  Tatiana was able to highlight the invisibility of the Latin American community in London: “with this [attention], the whole community get the recognition that we are campaigning for”.

Confidence

Perhaps most important, the women tell me, is an improvement in their confidence. Standing on stage as an Award winner, being celebrated for your work and able to share your story from a place of strength, can have a huge personal impact. From what we already know about these courageous and determined women, the only way from here is up.

We also know this is just the start of working relationships that benefit us all. As Diana, one of the award-winners, said after the ceremony, “it has been a huge pleasure – and I hope this will be a start for partnership work for the future”. The Forum hopes the Awards continue to impact throughout the year and look forward to seeing all our supporters – and more extraordinary women – in 2015! There may be only one day to celebrate international women, but Women on the Move are changing lives everyday.

As new reports highlight the increasing inequality in the UK economy; cities, towns and boroughs across the country have united to tackle issues of social exclusion in a new national network set up by the Leader of Birmingham City Council and the Bishop of Birmingham.

While in recent months economic statistics seem to be indicating a more positive outlook for the UK economy, it is clear that a significant proportion of our population are still not feeling the benefit of this improvement.  Only yesterday the Equality Trust released a report highlighting that the gap between rich and poor was rising and that inequality was costing the country £39bn a year.  Figures from Oxfam also released yesterday highlighted that the five richest families in the UK are wealthier than the bottom 20% of the entire population and the gap between the rich and the rest has grown significantly over the last two decades.

Continuing and increasing inequality has the potential to have a  long term damaging effect on our population, impacting on a wide spectrum of social outcome.   Duncan Exley from the Equality Trust highlighted it perfectly when he said yesterday “We know that inequality is a major cause of social problems from crime, to poor health to low educational performance, and that it is psychologically scarring, reducing trust in strangers and isolating individuals”.

Local authorities in towns and cities across the country are grappling with these issues every day.  However the challenge of dealing with social exclusion has been made more difficult because of the reduction in resources.  It is  this context that makes the launch of the National Social Inclusion Network and accompanying Birmingham Declaration so timely.

Led by the Bishop of Birmingham,  Birmingham’s Social Inclusion Process has over the past two years been trying to develop ways of dealing with social exclusion in the city.  The process quickly identified that the task of creating more inclusive cities has moved beyond what local or national government can do on their own, and that there was a need to build a network of local authorities to work together, share knowledge and understanding, as well as establishing a collective voice to challenge the Government to bring about changes that will make dealing with these issues easier.

This awareness resulted in the first National Social Inclusion Symposium being hosted by Birmingham City Council’s Leader, Cllr Sir Albert Bore and The Rt Revd David Urquhart, Bishop of Birmingham,  funded by the Barrow Cadbury Trust, in September 2013.  At this event 15 local authorities from across the country agreed to establish a National Social Inclusion Network and to sign a declaration to demonstrate their commitment.

By signing the declaration, participating authorities have agreed to:

• Be part of the National Social Inclusion Network
• Share learning and develop joint campaigning on key issues around social inclusion
• Build a strong collective voice to articulate the arguments for social inclusion for all communities across the country
• Identify action that can be taken around issues of shared concern

The authorities that have signed the declaration are Barrow-in-Furness, Birmingham, Bristol, Islington, Knowsley, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Plymouth, Sheffield, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent and Tower Hamlets.

The work of the network starts now.  We are already sharing ideas of best practice from successful Birmingham programmes such as the fair money manifesto, places of welcome initiative  and the Birmingham Jobs fund; and we are learning about other projects from across the country.

Over the next few months we will continue to work together in a variety of ways across the network with the shared determination to address deep-rooted issues of inequality and disadvantage and deliver the changes needed.

If you would like to  follow the work of the network you can do so through the blog , via social media @fairbrum and #fairplaces or by getting in touch with our team [email protected]

It’s a commonplace to see the word ‘Roma’ juxtaposed to ‘homeless’, ‘beggar’, ‘benefits’, ‘rubbish’ and ‘migrant’ – when not tied up with trafficking and stealing children.  Unless it’s an absence as in the current UK government’s National Roma Inclusion Strategy, which pointedly hardly refers to Roma at all.  So we are forced to accept Roma ‘deficiency’ and their need for assistance or support (or solidarity even…)

What a joy then to attend an event in Manchester last month[1] where a panel considered the opposite question – how do Roma pose an opportunity for UK cities?   We heard tough head teachers say that the presence of Roma children in school had “brought us an understanding of the work ethic, and how children can be resourceful and adapt, and – a little but important thing – how young children understood how to eat together and with adults….  In fact, Roma children have done us all a service by teaching us to be better at our jobs”.  A point a leading social entrepreneur made: “Personal social services in this country are organised for Mr & Mrs Average – but rarely for anyone slightly different, let alone chaotic.  Roma are different, and if we can co-develop services with Roma then everyone would benefit”.   A young Roma woman said that it was only coming to this country that (a) she knew what discrimination was, as she’d accepted the inevitability of exclusion in her country of birth, and that (b) she became aware of her own capabilities and contribution.  A university teacher spoke about the importance of family relationships, self-reliance, innovation and adaptability (especially to earn a living) – all those virtues that are supposedly upheld by leading politicians and newspaper editors.   A leading politician talked about how young Roma people can enable neighbourhoods to become stronger and more confident as barriers and misunderstandings get broken down initially between young people.  And finally, a writer reminded us that Britain has a long, but variable history of welcoming people trying to both make a better life and escaping oppressive treatment; “do we want to move back from being one of the most tolerant and multi-ethnic countries in the world – and if so, at what cost to many of us?”

There are some critics of migration and EU migrant communities, who focus on the incidents of people who appear willing to work for very low pay in appalling conditions, and families who appear to tolerate substandard and overcrowded housing.    But isn’t this a classic illustration of ‘blame the victim’?  Where are the regulations and enforcement actions taken by, for example, HMRC against rogue employers, or by housing authorities against unscrupulous landlords?  As the social entrepreneur said at the Manchester meeting, if we can develop good services with and for Roma, everyone benefits.

The Government don’t seem to have explored the opportunities that Roma bring.  Twenty years ago, there was a strong offer of friendship and potential welcome to the East/Central European states and peoples.  But is it only their doctors and IT specialists we want; and at a pinch, the hairdresser and plumber?  The Roma communities emerge from decades of forced assimilation or forced exclusion; the UK offers hope.  And the Roma bring with them behaviours and aptitudes that are sorely needed.  What a treat to attend a meeting where the words ‘Roma’ and ‘success’ and ‘opportunity’ were heard.  The Roma Support Group applauds this type of initiative, and welcomes a growing movement within the UK of determined Roma and non-Roma activists who want to concentrate on the potential, rather than allow the mindless stereotypes to prevail in what passes for our national narrative.

www.romasupportgroup.org.uk

On 19 February in a small cafe run by former homeless people and ex prisoners in the East End of London, Criminal Justice Innovations recently launched a book and a support programme. The book is called StreetCraft – and it tells the true stories of dozens of amazing people who have gone against the grain and attempted to do something new within the criminal justice system. The support programme – StreetCraft Scholarships – will assist the next generation of people like those who contributed to the book, to make their innovative ideas for improving the lives of victims, making communities safer, and ‘resocialising’ offenders, a reality.

The book took many months to put together, not least because the innovation world is uncertain and the criminal justice world can move both very fast and painfully slow. Over the course of putting the book together we spoke to over thirty justice pioneers, twenty nine of whom were eventually featured in the book. Two of these worked on the Transition to Adulthood (T2A) pilot projects, demonstrating the importance of focusing on a young person’s maturity level rather than deciding whether to treat them as an adult or child based on some arbitrary age cut-off point. Their experiences, like of many others we spoke to, show how important it is to forge the right alliances early on and have early stage support  when you are trying to improve aspects of criminal justice practice which your professional judgement tells you aren’t working all that well.

This is one of the reasons the Centre for Justice Innovation has launched the StreetCraft Scholarships, in partnership with the Young Foundation and Clinks. We believe that the brilliant people who opened up to us and the world, by participating in the book, are right. There is a wealth of innovative ideas and capacity for innovation in the criminal justice world. And there are many creative passionate people working in the sector, who want to make things better. But the gap lies at the very early stage, when an idea is first formed and it needs to be developed to prove that it can fly. Big criminal justice delivery agencies aren’t always so great at nurturing the innovations brought to the table by ‘StreetCrafters’, and even those which are don’t always have the right alliances to ensure the right reach, support and embedding in the community.

We are not claiming that the StreetCraft Scholarship will change all of that overnight. But we do hope to keep proving, as we did in the book, and as smart funders like the Barrow Cadbury Trust prove through high impact collaborative initiatives as the T2A Alliance, those who want to innovate in the sector, driven by their sense of social mission, are not alone. If you would like to read some truly engaging and sometimes moving stories of people trying to make the world a better place, you can download the book for free here. And if you know such a person and feel they may need a bit of support in taking their practice-led idea to the next level, please send them our way.

In 2012 the Northern Ireland NEETS (young people not in education, employment, or training) Strategy was awarded an additional £41 million up to 2015.  Although throwing money at a problem may not always yield the best results, (as it’s the systems and processes behind the investment which are the crucial drivers), it is a step in the right direction for those young people.  What this investment demonstrates is an understanding of the issue and a commitment to “turning the curve”.

However, for young people with severe learning disabilities, life isn’t quite so rosy.  In April 2008 MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly) were told that of the 100 young people leaving special schools each year in Northern Ireland, 20% of those with additional complex/profound disabilities would have no choice but to go to a day centre, as there were too few opportunities and support systems to enable them to go on to further education.  Put bluntly the needs of these young people are once more being ignored, despite them coming under the NEETS category.   It was this anomaly that led to the establishment of the Post 19 Campaign in April 2010.

The Post 19 Campaign now numbers 150 parents/carers of young people with severe learning disabilities as well as 21 SLD (Severe Learning Difficulties) Special Schools from across Northern Ireland.  The Campaign questions the lack of post-educational placements for these young people when they leave school at 19.

Equality and disability access issues apply to every creed, class and gender in Northern Ireland.  This is not a green and orange issue.

The Campaign  realises that the Stormont Assembly is accessible in a way in which Government is not in the rest of the UK.  But whilst the campaign can access politicians, and has backed up discussions with its research report ‘The Impact of Transition on Family Life 2012’ the outcome is still sympathy and support not constructive action for change.  So how can we turn this around?

I was fortunate to win the SMK Campaigners Award for Social & Economic Justice in 2013 (sponsored by Barrow Cadbury Trust and Shelter).  As an award winner I received a package of training and mentoring to enable me to drive the campaign forward.  With the assistance of my mentor Dr Michael Wardlow, Equality Commissioner for NI, we moved the focus away from the problems and towards solutions.

In our discussions with Ministers and government departments the Campaign is recommending alternative post educational placements which we identified in our research report.  One of these suggestions was to bring education, not necessarily formal or accredited, into the day centre, where peripatetic learning support teams could be employed to oversee the transfer of Individual Learning Plans from the special school sector.  This would ensure that young people with severe learning and additional complex and/or profound disabilities are no longer written off at 19 years as incapable of learning.  Radical? Not really. Practical? Absolutely!

To our delight the Department of Employment and Learning has included this proposal in its current inquiry due to finish in March 2014.  So progress is underway, but how far this goes is anybody’s guess.  But if all else fails there’s always Plan B – legislation.

Julie Jamieson is the 2013 SMK Social & Economic Justice Award winner

It is estimated brain injury and the resulting long term disability may affect at least 1 million people in the UK. Yet, Brain injury often goes unrecognised, undiagnosed and unsupported due to a lack of awareness and recognition within society.  Even when ‘mild’ in nature, brain injury can damage the parts of the brain that control memory, communication, anxiety and aggression. If left unsupported, seemingly small impairments, coupled with mental health issues and addiction issues, can lead to a series of poor judgements and can result in problems sustaining a job, home or relationships.

Brain Injury in Prison Populations

Given its possible link to social exclusion, the Disabilities Trust Foundation undertook the largest study in the UK on the prevalence of brain injury within an adult male prison. Carried out at HMP Leeds, initial research findings published in November 2012 showed that almost half of adult male offenders (47%) had a history of brain injury^[i]. Of those, 63% reported that their first Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)  happened before their first offence, and 30% had experienced more than five TBIs.  Because of this finding, the Disabilities Trust  Foundation has set up a service within HMP Leeds providing screening, training and support programmes to look at the over-representation of brain injury within this group.

Supporting Offenders with Brain Injury

An NHS approved assessment tool, developed by The Disabilities Trust Foundation called  the Brain Injury Screening Index ©, is used to screen all offenders entering HMP Leeds, to identify those who may have an acquired brain injury. Positively identified offenders then work with the Foundation’s ‘Linkworker’, to deliver person-centred rehabilitation and develop partnerships with health, probation, homeless, and drug and alcohol services to ensure each individual has an appropriate support network in place.

Carolyn Lund, Acting Governor, HMP Leeds said:  ‘We’re used to people being complex and having a whole range of needs that are challenging to address but the dedicated Linkworker means that all staff have someone to turn to for advice.’

National Recognition

Brain injury among offenders is beginning to be addressed on a national level. The HMP Linkworker service has led to inspectors routinely asking prisons what services they have in place for offenders with brain injuries. The Foundation has also taken a leading role in advising NOMS, Department of Health and NHS England on intervention, liaison and diversion strategies for offenders with brain injury.

Next steps

Supported by The Barrow Cadbury Trust, the Foundation is now evaluating the Specialist Brain Injury Linkworker service within the youth justice system. Replicating the HMP Leeds model, a study at HMYOI Wetherby will evaluate whether routine screening, increased awareness, staff training and tailored support reduces recidivism among brain injured offenders.

Working with Professor Huw Williams, a renowned expert in the area of brain injury and author of  the Barrow Cadbury Trust-funded  T2A (Transition to Adulthood Alliance)  report, Repairing Shattered Lives: Brain injury and its implications for the criminal justice system, the 12-month study will conclude with the publication and dissemination of an impact evaluation report.

Professor Huw Williams will be  investigating  the scale of the problem, looking at preventative action and improving detection and management of brain injury in the youth justice system in a follow up to this blog in March.

This blog is an abridged version of an article which was published in Criminal Law and Justice Weekly

Families have been struggling under the cloud of ‘austerity’ since the 2007 recession. In recent months, there has been renewed debate across political lines over the consequences of austerity reforms and a stagnating economy for living standards. But while many households in the ‘squeezed middle’ are feeling the pinch, new research from Gingerbread shows that single parents’ finances have been hit particularly hard in recent years.

Bearing the austerity burden

Single parents are bearing a disproportionate burden of welfare reforms. The government’s own impact assessments for the wave of changes starting in April 2013 show that they are expected to make up from 20 to 50 per cent of those affected – yet single parents only make up seven per cent of all households.

Our Paying the Price report shows the harsh reality of these changes. Around 40 per cent of single parents we surveyed are paying extra council tax since the localisation of council tax support. Around one in eight single parents surveyed said they had already been hit by the benefit cap. And over a fifth of single parents said they had lost at least £100 per month due to the April 2013 reforms.

For those already living “down to the pounds and pence”, as one single parent put it, these are not insignificant sums. Single parents’ finances are already stretched to the limit – nearly eight out of ten single parents surveyed find managing household finances a constant struggle at best. Rising living costs affect single parents more than couples, as single parents on average spend a greater proportion of their budget on essential bills.

And despite recent ‘green shoots’ of economic growth, the logical response to tighter budgets – earning more – is not an option for many single parents. Out-of-work single parents are keen to find jobs, yet interviews revealed a lack of employment support and understanding among both employers and Jobcentre Plus advisers of single parents’ need for flexible work. And those in work often do not fare much better – nearly a fifth of single parents surveyed said they had lost employment income in the last year due to falling wages or hours, or redundancy.

Managing the downturn

Our research shows how single parents are working hard to manage within tighter finances. Micro-managing household budgets, cutting back on spending (particularly on themselves), scouring shops for the best prices, selling items online – these are just some of the strategies single parents are using to make ends meet.

“I only buy things that I really need. If it means sacrificing something else to buy something that I really need, I’ll do that. We’ll go without until I really, really need it”

But this is not enough to weather the financial storm for many single parents. In our survey, 40 per cent of single parents were in arrears on regular payments; and many had slipped quite far behind. Nearly 90 per cent of single parents surveyed have had to borrow money or seek welfare assistance when they ran out of money in the past 12 months. Around half of those surveyed had to rely on credit cards or overdrafts when they ran out of money; and one in eight had turned to payday or doorstep lenders. Worryingly, the single parents involved in our research suggest that this reliance on borrowed money is on the rise.

“I’m trying not to [take out loans]…when an unexpected bill come in, it’s so easy to say ‘Yes, I’ll have one, and then that’s going to be the last’ – until the next one. It’s just a circle”

A call for caution

It is, of course, welcome news that there are emerging signs of economic recovery in the UK. But this research serves as a timely reminder that not everyone is getting an equal share in these gains.

What is more, the financial situation for many single parents is only likely to get worse. The current welfare reform programme will be less than 60 per cent complete by the end of 2013/14. We do not yet know how universal credit will affect single parents, but recent analysis by the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex suggests they will lose out in cash terms, whether in or out of work. And the Chancellor has recently warned of further fiscal consolidation until 2020. It is clear that for those single parents already struggling, there is much more financial pain to come.

Gingerbread will continue to track how single parent families fare under austerity as part of our Paying the Price project. We would, however, urge policy-makers to think hard before embarking on further reforms, particularly to the tax and benefit system. The government’s stated aims for their welfare reforms are fairness and affordability. Pushing single parents to the brink financially, increasing the risk of debt and demand for emergency financial support in the process, risks failing on both counts.

“What is already a struggle becomes a budgeting mission which never ends. There is no respite from watching every penny”

Paying the Price is a research project being carried out by Gingerbread, with funding from Trust for London and Barrow Cadbury Trust. Read the first report tracking single parents under austerity at www.gingerbread.org.uk/payingtheprice.