The number of single parents seeking help with debts has more than doubled in two years, according to advice charity StepChange.
Increases in the cost of living together with wage stagnation have hit families where there is only one adult who is likely to be in part-time work to fit in with childcare.
The charity said that 62,259 single parents contacted it for help in 2014, a 105% increase on 2012’s figure. Single parents were disproportionately likely to seek advice, it said – while they make up 10.6% of the population they accounted for 18.3% of StepChange’s cases.
Across the board on essential bills – rent, council tax and energy – they were more likely to be in arrears than other clients, StepChange said. They were also more likely to have debts on high-cost credit such as catalogues and store cards.
Of the single parents who contacted the charity for help in 2014, 31% were behind with council tax bills, and similar proportions were in arrears on water bills and mortgages. At 28%, the proportion in rent arrears was almost double that among StepChange’s clients who were in a couple and had no children.
StepChange’s chief executive, Mike O’Connor, said:“Single parents face a unique set of vulnerabilities and are disproportionally represented among our clients. Debt problems can affect anyone and the next government must commit to tackling a very British phenomenon that costs our society more than £8bn a year.”
He added that action was needed to help people build “precautionary savings” to avoid debt and to protect those who fall behind in repayments from punitive charges.
“This is even more important for the most vulnerable in our society, such as single parents”.
Meanwhile, the single parent charity Gingerbread said its research had shown that balancing childcare with work typically meant lower wages and more unstable jobs for those bringing up a family alone.
It said single parents were almost twice as likely to be in low-paid jobs as other workers (39% compared with 21% of working people nationally), and figures for 2012-13 showed rising working poverty.
Changes to benefits payments, including cuts to council tax support, have also had an impact on single parents’ finances.
The chief executive of Gingerbread, Fiona Weir, said: “Our own research has found that work isn’t giving single parent families the security or income they need, and that the majority are under constant financial strain.
“Single parents tell us they have cut back all they can and just one unexpected cost can push them into crisis.”
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