Vote for change! Unless you're a single parent

I have always assumed that political parties which lean towards the right see women as the natural carers for children and men as natural ‘bread-winner’. Single mothers are bad, and let’s not even mention same-sex couples. With 38% of voters currently intending to vote Conservative at the next general election, I wanted to see if I could be persuaded to accept the position of women in a future Conservative government as being a little bit better than doomed.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a list (reminiscent of a Sociology text book index) of areas the Tories want to focus on for women: women in the workplace, vulnerable women, women in their communities (whatever that means - possibly some sort of feminist neighbourhood watch), women and ethnicity, and women in international development. At first glance, it seems as if the Tories are willing to give half the UK population the political help they so desperately need. And yet, on closer inspection, I feel that this excludes the single mothers that make up 40% of all British families. More importantly, the inherent assumptions about ‘family’ the Tories have may prevent their own policies from helping many women at all.

Both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have announced plans to instate paid parental (52 weeks), rather than maternal (39 weeks) and paternal (2 weeks), leave. This seems as overdue as the assumption that mothers should be primary carers of their newborn child is outdated. Many Western countries now have such a system, including Germany, France, and Norway. Liberating women from the currently necessary position of primary carer would enable them to take on full-time work if they chose, also allowing the father to raise the child at home if they chose. Since the fact that 75% of part time workers are women adds to the pay divide, parental leave seems to be a necessary step towards equality. Surprisingly, same-sex couples will also be included in the scheme.

Another of the policies proposed by the Conservatives is that of helping women to leave domestic violence. One such promise is to provide 4,200 extra health visitors, who will be trained to “[spot] the signs of violence in the household” and be “aware of what to do if they suspect it”. Apparently, these will be a new breed of super health inspectors; doing what no other has done before them.

Another more promising idea, is to work with the Office of Fair Trading to help victims of domestic violence with financial constraints. Teresa May, the Shadow Minister for Women, claims that “women who leave a violent relationship can face numerous financial obstacles, such as dealing with debts that have been put in her name without her knowledge”. A more pressing financial concern seems to be that, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 20% of women would be totally dependent on their partner for income without child benefits. In light of this, parental leave would make it easier for women to become less financially dependent on their partners, possibly making it easier to leave a violent relationship. And yet, a major concern for me is that Tory reforms alienate single mothers.

In an attempt to “end the couple penalty” in the benefits system, the Tories promise to “recognise marriage”. They also claim to want to help “single parent families, divorced parents, gay couples with children, widows (I assume ‘or widowers’ is implied) bringing up children, or the conventional married couple with kids”. That the cereal-box ‘nuclear family’ is identified as “conventional” identifies them as preferred already. Seeing as the Tories then go on to exclaim how Britain “has one of the highest rates of family breakdown in Europe” enforces this. To be different from the traditional duo-parent family is to be ‘broken’. They then point out that a significant proportion of the £20 billion per annum paid to families goes to lone parents. How impertinent of all those “single parent families” and “widows”.

Statistics claim that children from divorced parents are twice as likely to live in poverty and 75% more likely to suffer in education. They also tell us that single mothers are already living under the poverty line, and poverty contributes to educational failure. According to the Department for Work and Pensions, 48% of children in lone parent families are below the poverty line, and 20% from two parent families. The “couple penalty” in the tax system does not seem so evident here. With no intention of increasing benefits for single parents with children under school-going age, there does not seem to be anything positive for single mothers or fathers under the Tories proposed schemes. Same-sex couples could benefit, but if there are not two parents in a family, there will be no improvement.

Due to the stigma that will still be attached to single mothers, I am doubtful as to how successful the financial reforms will be enabling mothers to leave abusive relationships. If they are financially dependent on their partner, and will probably be in more poverty outside of the relationship than in it; three months on benefits does not seem to be enough support. Entering the workplace for possibly the first time after childbirth is not that simple. The Tories would provide 15 hours free childcare, and yet 15 hours work a week, with child benefits for two children, would amount to £119.15. The poverty line for a single parent with two children is £260 a week. With all the policies the Tories would introduce, no policy would drag those single parents out of poverty. Some women may benefit, but many would not. Unless the Tories would be willing to fork out an extra £140.85 a week in benefits, single parents are a little bit screwed.

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