‘Hobson’s choice’ for single parents
North Cornwall’s MP, Dan Rogerson, took part in a discussion with Coleen O’Brien and Sam Buckley this week, along with Cornwall’s Child Poverty Co-ordinator, James Hardy, as part of a video presentation.
Coleen and Sam made the film, Poverty Trap, in an interview style about the choices single parents face between working on minimum wage, and struggling to pay for childcare, or looking after their own children with state support.
The thirty minute piece was put together at the M-MAD CIC studio, which is funded by the Cornwall Community Foundation to open two days a week.
Commenting after the visit, Dan Rogerson said:
“Too many young single parents face Hobson’s choice.
“They can work on low wages, and pay high charges for someone else to take care of their children, or they can fall back on state benefits.
“Working is not always the best financial option for people in that position, and doing so can place strain on the children too.
“As a single parent, there are tough choices to be made everyday about how to balance supporting yourself and your children financially, and being there to see them grow up.
“As a society, we need to value parenthood itself much more highly, recognising the contribution mothers and fathers can make at home looking after their own children. We should support single parents back into employment at the right time, not shoehorn them away their families and into work for its own sake.”
