The number of single parents approaching a leading debt charity for help has doubled over the past four years, making them the fastest growing group among its clients, figures reveal.
StepChange debt charity said that although just one in 14 UK households is headed by single parents, they now represent almost 20% of its clients seeking help with debt.
In total, single parents contacting the charity during 2015 had an average debt in excess of £10,000 . More than 60,000 single parents approached the charity for debt advice last year.
Single parents are more likely to be in rented accommodation than other StepChange clients, and they are also the most likely to be employed part time (33% of them do), and the least likely to work full time (only 12% of them do so). This is much lower than national figures, where 20% work part time and 54% work full time.
Single parents are significantly more likely to be struggling with high-cost credit taken out with catalogues and doorstep lenders. Compared to the average StepChange client, they are 33% more likely to have catalogue debt and 42% more likely to have home credit, it warned.
After paying their bills and expenses, the average single parent was left with an average of just £27 to put towards their debts.
Mike O’Connor, chief executive of StepChange, said: “With the pressures of bringing in enough money and raising children alone, single parents can face a daily battle to get by.
“We need better safety nets for when people hit problems so they don’t have to resort to credit to cope and put themselves at risk of falling into problem debt. The government’s announcement of support for low income groups to save is a welcome move, but the job remains far from done.”
In 2013, one in five lone parents sais they had lost £100 a month or more since benefit reforms were introduced in April 2013, according to a study by Gingerbread, the charity for lone parent families.
Nine out of 10 said they had been forced to cut back on spending on basics such as food and children’s clothes, with two-thirds skipping meals to ensure their children had enough to eat.
