Employment And The Lone Parent - Topline Results
Q1. Firstly, can I just check which of these statements on this card best describes how you came to be a single parent? Base: All single parents (408)
- Results are based on interviews with 208 single parents aged 15+ who were in employment at the time they became a single parent. Interviews were carried out face-to-face, in homes across Great Britain.
- Fieldwork took place on MORI's Omnibus surveys between 29th April - 4th May and between 6th - 11th May and between 20th - 25th May 2004. Interviewers used CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing).
- Data are weighted, using target rim weights, to standard demographic characteristics (gender, age, work status, region and social class) to adjust for discrepancies in coverage of individual sampling points and to ensure representativeness.
- Where results do not sum to 100, this may be due to multiple responses, computer rounding or the exclusion of don't knows/not stated.
- Results are based on all respondents unless otherwise stated.
Q1. Firstly, can I just check which of these statements on this card best describes how you came to be a single parent? Base: All single parents (408)
| Single parent | % |
| Single at the time of giving birth to my child | 26 |
| Became a single parent following separation/divorce from my partner | 64 |
| Became a single parent through bereavement | 3 |
| Single parent (but reason not specified) | 7 |
Q2. Can you tell me whether or not you were employed, either full or part-time, at the time immediately before you became a single parent? Base: All single parents (408)
| 160 | % |
| Yes -- part time | 23 |
| Yes -- full time | 30 |
| No -- not employed | 46 |
| Don't know/can't remember | 1 |
Q3. What age was your youngest child when you became a single parent? Base: All who became a single parent through separation/divorce or bereavement whilst in employment (146)
| 160 | % |
| Up to 2 years old | 35 |
| 3-5 years old | 28 |
| 6-10 years old | 25 |
| 11-16 years old | 8 |
| 17 years or older | 1 |
| Refused | 1 |
| Don't know | 2 |
Q4. Regarding your job and working hours, when you became a single parent, which of the following did you do? Base: All in employment at the time became a single parent (208)
| 160 | % |
| Stayed in same job | |
| And kept the same working hours | 40 |
| But decreased my hours | 10 |
| But increased my hours | 6 |
| Took a new job | |
| With the same hours as my previous job | 5 |
| But with less hours than my previous job | 5 |
| But with more hours than my previous job | 2 |
| Stopped working | 31 |
| Don't know/can't remember | 1 |
Q5. And ideally, what would have been your preferred option at the time? Base: All in employment at the time became a single parent (208)
| 160 | % |
| Stay in same job | |
| With no change in my working hours | 42 |
| But decrease my hours | 19 |
| But increase my hours | 5 |
| Took a new job | |
| But with less hours than my previous job | 6 |
| With the same hours as my previous job | 5 |
| But with more hours than my previous job | * |
| Stopped working | 17 |
| None of these | 3 |
| Don't know | 2 |
Q6. Which of the following, if any, were factors in why you stopped working/reduced your working hours when you became a single parent? Base: All who stopped working or reduced their hours when they became a single parent (103)
| 160 | % |
| Practical reasons | |
| Lack of suitable/affordable childcare | 31 |
| Stress | 14 |
| Ill health | 9 |
| I had to move house when I became a single parent | 8 |
| Financial reasons | |
| I wouldn't have been better off in work | 11 |
| Lack of advice about financial issues | 2 |
| Employment-related reasons | |
| Lack of flexible working arrangements | 8 |
| Lack of support from my employer | 8 |
| Family reasons | |
| I wanted to spend more time with my children | 41 |
| Lack of support from my friends/family | 13 |
| None of these | 10 |
| Don't know/can't remember | 1 |
Q7. When you became a single parent, which, if any, of the following did you do? Base: All in employment at the time became a single parent (208)
| 160 | % |
| Did not tell my manager/personnel department | |
| I didn't think it was relevant for them to know | 10 |
| I didn't know who to talk to | 2 |
| I was worried about what might happen if I told them | 1 |
| I had to move house when I became a single parent | 8 |
| Asked employer for advice/support | |
| For more flexible working hours | 14 |
| To increase/decrease my working hours | 10 |
| About family benefits and services available to me | 8 |
| About my maternity leave entitlement | 7 |
| Asked others for advice/support about my employment | |
| From my friends/family | 21 |
| From an independent organisation/charity, (e.g. Citizens' Advice Bureau/One Parent Families/Job Centre Plus/New Deal for lone parents adviser) | 13 |
| From an organisation contracted by my employers to give confidential advice and counselling to employees | 3 |
| None of these | 38 |
| Don't know | 5 |
Q8. You mentioned that you stopped working when you became a single parent. How long were you not working for? Base: All who stopped working when they became a single parent (75)
| 160 | % |
| Less than 3 months | 5 |
| 3-5 months | 1 |
| 6-11 months | 6 |
| 1 year but less than 2 | 14 |
| 2 years but less than 5 | 25 |
| 5 years or more but less than 10 | 9 |
| 10 years or more | 4 |
| I am still not working | 31 |
| Don't know/can't remember | 5 |
Q9. How does your current job compare to the one you had before you became a single parent in terms of level of responsibility, salary and working hours? Base: All single parents who were working when they became a single parent and who are currently in employment (122)
| 160 | % |
| Level of responsibility | |
| Same | 50 |
| Lower | 22 |
| Higher | 23 |
| Don't know | 4 |
| Salary | |
| Same | 37 |
| Lower | 30 |
| Higher | 29 |
| Don't know | 4 |
| Hours | |
| Same | 45 |
| Lower | 31 |
| Higher | 19 |
| Don't know | 4 |
More insights about Public Sector
