Mayoral candidates encouraged to help single parents back into work

Gingerbread - support of lone parents in Britain

The candidates standing in the mayoral election in Greater Manchester have been asked to commit to supporting single parent families into work.

Gingerbread, the charity for single parents, has written to each of the candidates, inviting them to meet with local single parents and commit to policies that would support them.

There are over 107,600 single parent households living in Greater Manchester. While over half (58 per cent) of single parents are in work, there are still 40,400 who are not. Single parents frequently cite the lack of affordable childcare as one of the greatest obstacles preventing them from taking up employment.

Gingerbread is calling on the candidates to support their childcare proposal “Upfront: childcare deposit guarantee” if they are elected mayor. The scheme would support parents who are about to start work or increase their hours, by helping parents arrange childcare ahead of their first pay cheque, with Manchester City Council directly paying the deposits nurseries and childminders typically require. For many single parents, it can be difficult or even impossible to pay a deposit prior to being paid.

Following his election in 2016, London Mayor Sadiq Khan has commenced implementing the Upfront guarantee to support parents working for organisations in the Greater London Authority (GLA), such as Transport for London.

Steve Harding, Head of Programmes, commented: “Every day we work with single parents who are trying to balance employment and childcare, but are finding it harder and harder to do so. We’re inviting all the candidates to meet them and commit to the policies that would make life fairer for all single parents. A Manchester that works for single parent families is a Manchester that works for everyone.”