Lone Parents, Poverty & Work

Launched in 2022, the Lone Parents, Poverty and Work Initiative is Fife Gingerbread’s response to tackling child poverty in Scotland. Lone parents are a priority family group facing a greater risk of surviving poverty, multiple barriers and systemic inequalities.

We know that lone parents face many barriers when trying to find or sustain employment.  These include:

•  A lack of flexible hours,

• The impact of employment on benefits received,

• Childcare,

• Short- and long-term health issues, and

• Stigma

We are trying to solve this by working with local employers to advocate for lone parent families.

Who we will support:

• Lone parents living in Fife,

• Unemployed lone parents looking to return to the workplace,

• Working parents who need support to remain in work or seek alternative employment,

What we will do:

• Engage with parents one to one providing advice, support and guidance

• We will work together to identity opportunities to suit lone parents families needs

• Provide support in areas such as applications, CVs and interviews

• Continue support during the transition into employment and beyond

• Work with employers to ‘lone parent proof’ their organisations