4.2.1.1 Service user participant demographics
The service user interviews took place with 14 single mothers who ranged in age from 26 years to their late 40s. All except one described themselves as the lone head of their household: one had a live-in partner, but still considered herself to be a ‘single mum’ as she was no longer in a relationship with her children’s father and she had many years of experience of raising her children with no support from a partner at all. Another participant described having a new (non-cohabiting) partner recognised that she was not ‘single’ any more, but nevertheless identified with the term because she had sole responsibility for her child on a day-to-day basis. Three of the participants did not have any family who were geographically close enough to share any childcare responsibilities, with two of those not having any reliable help from an ex-partner and therefore, potentially more vulnerable.
The participants’ children ranged in ages from four months to adults in their late 20s, and all households had at least one dependent child345. One participant had been in her teens, aged 19, when she had her first child, with the majority in their twenties and five in their 30s when they had their first children. Nine participants were employed at the time of the interview (two of whom were self-employed), working across a range of sectors including education, adult social care, office administration, childcare and the arts. Another was a student and three were full-time carers, two for nursery or pre-nursery aged children, and one whose child had special needs. One participant was job-seeking. Four identified living in affluent, middle-class areas though they were not necessarily affluent themselves.
Five of the 14 mothers were educated to a level which would position them as middle class: two to BA level (with a third studying part-time for her degree) and three to postgraduate level, with most of these qualifications completed after their
345 ie, with at least one child living at home who was under 18 years of age or, if the child(ren) were over 18 still in education and a financial dependent.
Page: 107
children were born. Two described having vocational qualifications in childcare and youth work. In terms of housing, participants included owner-occupiers with a mortgage, owned properties which were primarily maintained by an ex-spouse, social housing and privately-rented accommodation and living with parents346. Despite this range of different circumstances, there were overlapping factors which the women shared. Almost all described experiencing financial problems of some kind at the time of the interviews and they all appeared to be extraordinarily short of time, some describing having a handful of hours per week – if that - when they were not either working or had caring responsibilities for their child(ren). This shortage of time, along with an inability to leave the house for periods of time (because of financial and childcare constraints) was also linked by the women to their use of the internet and social media for maintaining social interaction.
Furthermore, the women generally fell into one of two distinct groups. Firstly, some participants were identifiably in a state of relatively recent transition, and sometimes conflict with ex-partners, with a small number involved in custody and access negotiations and disputes over the family home. This group were sometimes current or recent users of intervention services such as mental health support, support for dealing with domestic violence (DV) or counselling or parenting support. Others identified this ‘transition’ stage as being in the past around the time of the split from their child’s/children’s father and/or when their child(ren) were very young. They often recounted having greater support needs during this period. Some had experienced crises in the past, for example, five explained that they had suffered abuse (and sometimes threats of violence) from ex-partners which intensified during the breakup period. Those who had reached a ‘post transition’ stage, however, described how they had mostly settled into a pattern based around work and childcare and some stability around division of childcare responsibilities with friends, family or an ex-partner enabling them to achieve some independence.
Feedback from service user participants, service providers and stakeholders, identified a wide range of institutions and organisations which they used to provide them with services, support, amenities and activities for them and their children.
346 Note that further detail of the single mother participants will not be provided to protect their anonymity as far as possible. As some had experienced domestic abuse in the past, it was essential that their details were not given in any format that allowed them to be identified.
Page: 108
Some services such as schooling and children’s centres, were within the direct remit of the local authority. Others were provided by charitable and voluntary organisations, some of which were directly commissioned to provide services on behalf of the local authority, and others to which the local authority made financial contributions. As stated in section 3.3.8, a small amount of support services identified, such as childminder services and counselling, were provided by private organisations and therefore outside the scope of this discussion. Services provided by the NHS were also outside local authority remit, although these had a significant impact on some participant’s ability to function so featured in most of the service user’s accounts. This was particularly true of mental health support as several had described their mental health issues, showing similarities with previous research with single mothers, which identified them as a group with below-average levels of mental well-being347. Overall, despite reporting the closure of some doctor’s surgeries and an end to home visits by GPs when their children are ill, participants reported that healthcare services were good and that they had experienced few problems, particularly in relation to their children’s care348.
4.2.1.2 Austerity in context
The interviews took place between December 2014 and May 2015, five years from the time the Coalition Government introduced its austerity programme. It was clear that government austerity measures discussed in chapter 1 were ‘starting to bite’. Several participants described experiencing growing financial hardship:
these included cuts to working tax credits349 which meant some faced a “Catch 22, with benefits versus earnings” as their earnings were less than they could claim through state benefits and thus a disincentive to work350. One participant was “in limbo” - unable to proceed with her divorce as she needed advice on custody issues but was unable to afford legal fees due to cuts in legal aid. Another was concerned about proposed changes to tax credits which would impact on the self-employed and would specifically penalise lone parents. A small number of participants were grateful to have benefitted in the past from retraining grants or
347 See, for example, Gregg, et al, ibid.
348 With the exception of transport logistics – see 4.2.2.3.
349 Cuts to Working Tax Credit particularly affected women in lone parent households as they were more likely to be recipients of these benefits. See: Mapson (2014), ibid.
350 It is also worth noting that working may impact their eligibility for other support, including free school meals for their children.
Page: 109
study support grants which they stated were no longer available to others, and another noted the abolition of maternity grants.
Other support services were experienced as being less available, with participants discussing how they were adversely impacted by discontinued bus routes and the introduction of fees for home-to-school transport; the removal of specialist, lone parent support for job-seeking; less childcare investment and provision, increases in childcare costs (including breakfast and after-school clubs) and leisure activity costs such as swimming, and the loss of amenities which were free such as libraries being cut back significantly.
The shortage of housing in Bristol was particularly far-reaching and complex for some of the participants, many of whom had little or no choice in where they lived.
Several noted that decreased social housing and poor private rental housing availability had impacted on them. One mother, for example, said she was on a list for government housing and would not reach the top for nine years; another, who had severe mental-health issues and two young children was unable to rent privately because of former debt and faced a forced move into a hostel; a further participant, who was physically attacked by her neighbour was wary of going out but had no other options available from the council. The two participants who lived in their former marital homes faced ongoing battles with their ex-partners to remain, with one under considerable pressure because of the removal of some care support for her severely disabled child. Another, who owned her home, spent much of her disposable income on maintaining the house as dampness issues worsened her child’s asthma.
______________________________
Overall, these factors showed the cumulative effect of cuts to benefits and aspects of state support on the lives of the mothers interviewed in this study. In the next section I provide further some detail of the service provision available to the participant group and explore the structural constraints and enablers that they faced in accessing these which emerged from the findings.
Page: 110