Juggling act

The Government's pledge to provide full-time childcare places for every lone parent entering employment in the most disadvantaged areas by 2004 is one of its three key goals for the national childcare strategy.

But some campaigners for lone parents feel that they are being put under pressure to work and more emphasis should be put on giving them the support and encouragement to choose when they feel it is right for them to go out to work.

Annie Oliver, information officer for the national campaign group Single Parent Action Network (SPAN), says, 'I think lone parents are being pressured. I don't agree with divide and rule. Why is the emphasis on childcare places for lone parents in the most disadvantaged areas? Why is it not on help for all families in disadvantaged areas?' Alison Garnham, Director of Policy, Research and Information at the National Council for One-Parent Families says, 'Research shows that something like 90 per cent of lone parents would like to work at some point. When that point is depends upon the individual, the age of the children and what support they have. Lone parents suffer from a lot of bad press and they feel terribly conscious about doing the right thing.' She complains about prejudice towards lone parents and points to the statistics -that three million children are cared for by single parents, they make up one in four families and only 3 per cent of lone parents are teenagers.