CEY0949

Written evidence submitted by Single Parent Rights

Single Parent Rights

We are a single parent led campaign group set up in 2020 to address single parent discrimination. We are calling for single parents to be added to the Equality Act as a protected characteristic alongside other groups such as those who are married or in a civil partnership. Given childcare is essential to single parent families in terms of well-being and work, we are submitting evidence to ensure that the reality of single parents is better understood, and policy design responds to our needs. You can find more details about us at www.singleparentrights.org

Summary

The current childcare system in the UK hinders single parents’ employment, career progression and financial sustainability and negatively impacts single parents’ well-being. The lack of affordable and flexible childcare contributes to single parents disproportionally working in low-paid, insecure, part-time roles and contributes to 40% of single parents raising children in poverty. Fifty percent of single mums are in part-time employment compared with 43% of married mothers, and the Learning and Work Institute found 33% of single mothers are trapped in low-paid work compared with 18% of mothers in couples. Speaking with our members, we identified several issues which need urgent reform. 

Universal Credit childcare support maximum amount limit

Problem

The maximum limit of UCCS (Universal Credit Childcare Support) is too low having been frozen at the current level for seven years. This is especially the case for parents with younger children, those living in London, those working over 25 hours per week, and those with more than 2 children (who are even less likely to be in full-time work than other single parents). The UCCS limit pushes many single parents into part-time work which then impedes their career progression. This has negative knock-on impacts for single parent families given that part-time employees tend to be less well paid and less well supported than full-time employees. With the recent steep increases in nursery fees there is a very real risk that many single parent families will find themselves financially better off not working at all which is a huge worry both for families and the UK economy.

Case Study

Mellissa (not her real name), is a single mother of three currently on maternity leave and lives in London. She is worried how she will cover the costs of childcare when she returns to work in a few months. “I normally work 3 days a week, the nursery I selected has just raised their fees by 16% to over £1000 for three days. I will also need to pay for wrap around care for my other two in school during my working days. I cried when I heard about the increase, it was already going to be a challenge but now the £646 limit from Universal Credits for one child is farcical given what I will actually be paying. I want to work, but I now seriously have to consider if I won’t be better off NOT working. Something I never thought I’d say. Full-time work is just impossible when childcare costs this much.” 

Solutions

•       Increase the maximum amount for UCCS to reflect the average cost of 30 hours of childcare as a minimum for children under 5 years.
•       Allow up to 100% of childcare costs to be reimbursed through the UCCS system.
• Differentiate the maximum amount per region, like how the housing benefit element and benefit cap are differentiated (in 2020 parents paid £50 extra per week in London for childcare compared with the national average). 
• Introduce a new higher maximum amount for childcare for families with multiples and those with 3, 4 children or 5+.

It should be noted, currently only 8% of families claim the maximum amount (rising to 23%) in London and down to 4% in some areas. Increasing the maximum amount is likely to be utilised by only a minority of claimants but would ensure those families who need this crucial support the most can access it. 

Universal Credit repayment system for childcare costs

Problem

Requiring the claimant to pay childcare upfront and then reclaim these costs is challenging and forces many single parents into a cycle of substantial debt which negatively impacts their ability to continue working and can take a long time to repay. This is often exacerbated when administrative errors mean repayments are delayed or disputed because the evidence is deemed insufficient only to be later paid causing financial problems and stress for those families concerned.

Costs for childcare are often paid in bulk at the start of the term but these can only be claimed for within the payment period. This can mean delays in receiving the money which has been paid out and create challenges such as having to request numerous invoices to break down individual payments from childcare providers to fit within the payment period.

Case studies

Single mother to one, Nichola was pushed into debt due to the requirement to pay childcare costs upfront, she had to borrow money to make these payments and described how this caused her to, “enter a cycle of debt where I was constantly owing childcare as well as loan providers and struggling to find the money to cover payments.” The stress and poverty that Nichola experienced meant she had to cut her work hours from 32 hours a week to 25.5 hours.

Cristina, single mum to one child, has experienced multiple problems with inaccurate repayments from Universal Credit; “Despite providing childcare costs evidence on time and leaving a message in my journal to confirm the amount paid, almost each month I get an amount which is lower than the capped amount. In October I reported the mistake the same day the payment was confirmed, I wrote in my journal multiple times and had to call UC twice to finally get the right amount (more than 1 month later).”

Sally (not her real name) single mum to two, faced challenges with reclaiming for after school costs which covered the term. “The school wanted me to make payments in bulk, but UC didn’t want me to reclaim that long at once and I was worried it would take me over the maximum limit. I had to try and work out what period I should be paying the school for to ensure I could reclaim this and then I had to request numerous invoices from the school. It was a waste of my time, the schools time, and the UC administrative staff team to then process these multiple payments. I still don’t really understand if by doing it this way I was reimbursed less than I would have been if the amounts were split differently. It seems excessively complicated.”

Solutions 

• Introduce a system which allows claimants to:
• claim childcare payments in advance and in line with when childcare payments are made rather than ‘payment periods’ to minimise debt risks
• upload evidence more simply, less often and with broader acceptance of the different receipts/ invoices that childcare providers issue to minimise payment delays 
• access fast, interest free childcare loans while claims are being processed 

Funded hours not fully passed on to families

Problem

Many single parents report paying excessive ‘top-up’ fees for the funded hours leaving many families financially struggling. This is due to the low level of funding provided from the government to childcare settings and due to the funded hours only covering term time. Having to wait till the term after a child turns 2 or 3 for the relevant funded hours also means those with birthdays at the start of the term lose up to three months of funding compared with children born at the end of the term.

Case study

Frankie (not her real name) is a single mum to one child. In 2021 before her daughter was entitled to any funded hours Frankie paid around £450 per month for around 23 hours a week at a childminder. Once her daughter turned 2 in 2022, Frankie moved her to nursery where she received the 15 funded hours which cost Frankie around £480 per month for 27 hours a week. At the start of 2023 Frankie’s daughter qualified for the 30 hours funding. Even with this funding Frankie is still paying around £280 per month for her daughter.

Frankie said, "30 hours funded is extremely misleading... it’s only term time which very few of us are fortunate to only need so once split over a full year this equates to only 22 hrs per week. By the time nurseries have then passed on their costs to parents for these ‘funded hours’ (wrapped up in words such as cooked meals and consumables/extras) we see very little dent in our nursery bills."

Solutions

• Ensure the funding provided to nurseries is inline with their actual costs and that this funding is passed on to the parent.
• Provide funding for childcare settings throughout the whole year.
• Provide funded hours as soon as the child has the relevant birthday.

High childcare costs

Problem

The high costs of childcare assume a two-income family and means even middle-income single parents struggle as until the child is 3 there is little support available beyond the tax-free system which is very limited. This is disproportionally negative for single parents who have greater childcare needs given the lack of a partner to share the load with.

Case Studies

Angela (not her real name) works 32 hours a week and takes home around £2,100 per month. She is not entitled to UCCS. From her salary, Angela pays rent of £992 per month and a further £950 in nursery fees for four days a week for her only child. This leaves Angela with £155 for all other costs per month meaning she must rely on family to pay her monthly bills and cover basic living expenses.

Angela states, “My nursery fees are 50% of my take home salary and my rent is the other 50% leaving me with nothing so I live on hand me downs until my son is entitled to some paid hours. And I’m not entitled to any benefits or help…I earn a good salary but I’m still struggling.”

Aziza (not her real name) is a teacher in London. Her take home pay is just over £2000 per month. She is not entitled to any additional support from the government. She has one 3-year-old child who attends nursery part time and relies on her mother to provide childcare for the other days as she cannot afford a full-time nursery place despite working full-time. 

Before her child turned 3, Aziza was paying £807 per month for 2 days a week in nursery. Now her son is 3 he receives 30 hours of funding and attends nursery for 3 days a week. However, this still costs Aziza £646 per month. 

Aziza said, "It’s ridiculous that even with funded hours, I still cannot afford to send him in full time. A full-time place at my nursery is over £1k a month with the funded hours. As a single parent having safe, excellent educational and loving nursery providers that can support working parents without being financially punitive is vital. Being recognised that I am working, but alone in income means that my son and children of others who do not benefit from dual incomes are unable to access high quality childcare or suitable childcare to support their working hours. There are definitely days towards the end of the month where I avoid eating to ensure I have my travel fare and it feels so wrong and like I’m being punished for raising my child alone. It makes me feel like I cannot provide for my child, even when I work so hard to do so. I know my story is not an isolated one. I know colleagues in similar situations."

Solution

• Provide the 30 hours funding to parents as soon as they return to work, not only once their child turns 3 (and ensure the funded hours are well funded as per recommendations in the point above).

Single parent carers and single parents with disabilities

Problem

Single parent carers are excluded from childcare support despite parent carers with a partner in work being allowed to claim UCCS. Single parents with disabilities are also excluded in the same way.

Under current arrangements care work is considered a substitute for paid work when a parent has a partner. For single parents, care work is not considered a substitute for paid work. This discriminates against single parents who are also carers and should be addressed as a matter of urgency. Excluding single parent carers and single parents with disabilities in this way makes it almost impossible for this group to gain paid employment.

Case Study

Sarah (not her real name) is a single parent and registered carer to her four-year-old son Alfie (not his real name) who is registered blind. When Sarah learned that if she had a partner in work, she would have been entitled to support for childcare costs but was denied this support due to being a single parent she stated, “I’m devastated knowing my son has been disadvantaged purely on the basis of my marital status. Furthermore, this lack of childcare makes it impossible for me to search for work and locks me into long-term unemployment.” 

Solution

Accept the care work of single parents who are registered carers (working 35+ hours a work caring for someone) as equivalent to work and allow single parents to access UCCS as well as the 30 hours of funded childcare. Also allow single parents with disabilities to access the 30 hours of funded childcare.

Removal of Sure Start centres

Problem

The Sure Start centres Labour introduced in 1998 provided non-judgemental support to parents, free parenting classes and activities for under-fives, and subsidised childcare. By 2018 it was estimated up to 1000 such centres had been closed across England[1] and many more had significantly cut their level of service[2]. These centres were a hugely beneficial resource for single parents and where they have been retained, they have provided a much needed resource for single parent families.

Case study

Melissa (not her real name), was living in a London borough where there were still Sure Start nurseries when she had her second child. Since moving to a new borough she has lost the support of this centre and can no longer access the subsidised childcare at the nursery which had a fee structure based on household income.

Melissa said, “The children’s centre near me was a really great resource. When I had my second child I went to baby group there, following a traumatic birth it really helped me to build my confidence back up. Due to issues with my ex I received a family support worker who was able to assist me with things like a healthy eating course as my son had issues when I weaned him, she also linked me up to a local fruit and veg voucher scheme which really helped take the pressure off finances when I was made redundant, and most importantly when I got back into work I was given a place at the nursery there where the fees were just over £500 per month for 3 days. This was much cheaper than any other nursery in the area and meant I could afford to return to work. I have another child now and I’m looking at having to pay over £1000 for the same number of hours at a nursery for him when I return to work because I’m no longer in the same borough.”

Solutions

• Reinstate Sure Start centres which act as hubs for the community and link services from maternity right through to pre-school.
• Reinstate Sure Start nurseries which have graduated fee structures based on household income.

Child maintenance payment doesn’t take into account childcare costs

Problem

Child maintenance payments do not account for childcare costs.

Case Study

Jenny is a single mother with one child in nursery. Since separating from her partner, he doesn’t pay for childcare anymore as he pays maintenance through the CMS. However, the maintenance he pays only just covers half of Jenny’s nursery bill, leaving her with less than £100 a month to cover all other costs related to her child.

Jenny says, “CMS need to re-evaluate how they calculate payments for single working parents with children under 3 CMS should have a different calculation system.”

Solution

• As part of the CMS review consider how childcare costs could be more fairly covered in maintenance payments. Where maintenance is not received ensure, these costs are better supported through other childcare support systems as per the recommendations throughout this submission.

Conclusion

There is a childcare crisis in the UK and single parents are bearing the brunt of this in terms of their mental well-being, their finances and their careers. Affordable childcare is essential if the UK wants to ensure single parents and their children can thrive. The current crisis is rapidly worsening due to the cost-of-living crisis and pushing many single parents to question whether they can afford to work as parents report nursery fees rising by 16% or more at the start of 2023.

This government, and future governments, must prioritise a childcare system that works for single parents as well as two-parent families, this means as a bare minimum lowering the age at which children are eligible for funded hours, increasing the funding that nurseries receive to be in-line with real costs and raising the amount of childcare support that parents can claim through Universal Credit to be in-line with real costs. The more detailed solutions included within this submission would ensure a much fairer, more workable childcare system for single parent families across the UK which would be better for children, their parents and the UK economy.    

Written by Ruth Talbot, Single Parent Rights

January 2023