Summary
There are almost 3m lone parent families in the UK and for many the pandemic has put increased pressure on already stretched family finances. The charity Gingerbread say that single parents are more likely to have lost jobs or experienced reduced hours and falling incomes.
If you’ve a question or a tip about supporting children when you separate, dealing with child maintenance payments and arrears or maximising your income, we’d love to hear from you.
Or if you’ve got some advice to share about free or low cost family activities for the summer we’re all ears, e-mail moneybox@bbc.co.uk to join the conversation.
On the panel are:
• Ros Bever, Family Lawyer, Irwin Mitchell • Victoria Benson, CEO, Gingerbread • Phil Agulnik, Director of benefits checker entitledto
Presenter: Felicity Hannah Producer: Diane Richardson Editor: Alex Lewis
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're about to listen to a BBC podcast, but this is about something else you might enjoy. |
| 0:05.4 | My name's Katie Lecky and I'm an assistant commissioner for on demand music on BBC Sounds. |
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| 0:22.4 | helping you nod off, boogie in your kitchen, or even just a moment of calm. And they're all put |
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| 0:41.3 | BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts. |
| 0:47.0 | Hello, I'm Louise Cooper and welcome to the download of Moneybox Live, the programme about your money. There are nearly 3 million single-parent families in the UK and most work. |
| 0:56.3 | Lockdown has generally made their lives more difficult, with grandparents unable to help, nursery and childminders closed, and co-parents |
| 1:02.5 | often unable to share childcare. And for some single parents, there's the added complication |
| 1:08.2 | of working from home whilst trying to home school. |
| 1:12.9 | The economic turmoil also likely to hit single parents hardest financially, |
| 1:18.0 | as many are in a vulnerable position to start with. |
| 1:21.4 | So this week's Moneybox Live is looking at the challenges such families face in this economic crisis. |
| 1:27.2 | So please email Moneybox |
| 1:29.7 | at BBC.com.uk or tweet at Moneybox to get in touch with your stories, your questions and your |
| 1:37.4 | experiences. Well, let's hear first from Shante. Shantay, welcome to Moneybox Live. |
| 1:48.0 | Hello. Hello. Now, you are working full-time at the same time as looking after your four-year-old daughter, Hyatt. So tell us, how is that going? |
| 1:57.2 | It's a bit of a challenge to say the least at the moment. |
| 2:02.2 | You know, we're balancing, you know, doing, obviously working from home and also, you know, doing activities, keeping out occupied in whatever way that I can. |
| 2:12.6 | And you're trying to potty train her as well during lockdown. |
... |
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