There are 2.9 million single parents in the UK. Research and policy discussions have tended to focus on the persistent levels of poverty within single parent homes and issues around employment. However, there has been little consideration given to the discriminatory environment within which single parent families exist and how this impacts them and their children.

The Single Parent Rights (SPR) campaign has been set up by single parents to raise awareness of this discrimination and identify policy solutions. The campaign was set up during the first lockdown in 2020 when the invisibility of single parents was highlighted by the absence of any consideration for single parents during the fast-paced policy-making environment. However, single parent discrimination predates the pandemic and without significant policy change is likely to continue unchecked.

In this talk, Ruth Talbot presents the findings from the latest piece of research by the SPRs campaign which surveyed over 1000 single parents to better understand the situation. The research highlights that prejudice and discrimination towards single parents is widespread with far reaching impact for both single parents and their children. It also identifies a strategy for ending this discrimination and enabling single parent families to thrive.

Ruth Talbot is the founder of the Single Parent Rights campaign which she runs voluntarily whilst also working part-time for Save the Children UK. She has twenty years’ experience of working in the charity sector and has an MA in International Development from the University of London and an Honours degree in Politics from the University of Glasgow. Ruth has written extensively about life as a single parent. Outside of her day job, her campaigning and her writing, Ruth raises her two young boys solo.

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