Jeff Smith, Labour MP for Manchester Withington, recently attended an event hosted by Gingerbread, the charity for single parent families, to hear about how the next government can better support single parents and their children to thrive.

Along with a group of single parent campaigners, Gingerbread launched Single Parents: Equal Families – a manifesto for change.

Jeff showed his support for single parents, speaking to single parent attendees and reviewing the challenges they face, as set out in the manifesto.

It’s not unusual to be a single parent or the child of a single parent, there are around 1.8 million single parent families in the UK and 29,600 in Manchester.

This means one in four families in the UK is headed by a single parent and yet their needs can be often invisible or ignored when it comes to policy and legislation and employment practice. Using years of real-life experience backed by research, Gingerbread and a dedicated team of single-parent campaigners created the manifesto which highlights the need for those in power to listen to the experiences of single parents, and remove unnecessary struggles.

The manifesto calls on the next government to:

• Undertake a full review and reform of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS)
• Take action so that a whole range of flexible working options become normalised and available allowing single parents to find work that meets their skill level
• Invest in a childcare system that supports single parents
• Take action to ensure adequate levels of benefits are paid to single parents and make sure the benefit system is fair.
• Introduce a process so that all impact assessments for new policy look at the impact that changes would have on single parents.

Sarah Lambert, Gingerbread’s Head of Policy and Campaigns said:

“It was fantastic to see Jeff Smith at our event and we look forward to working with him to help create a world where all single parents and their children thrive.

“The policies of the next government will shape the future, so let’s ensure they work effectively for single-parent families and their children.”

Jeff Smith MP said:

“I welcomed the opportunity to hear from single parents and Gingerbread about the biggest issues single parents face day to day and what needs to change.

“I hear regularly from constituents about some of these challenges, particularly around problems with child maintenance, difficulties in finding the right flexible roles, the cost of childcare and issues with Universal Credit. I will continue to work with constituents to make sure they get the help they need.”