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Third of lone parents 'on under £10,000'

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Published Date: 14 August 2007
THE extent of poverty among lone parent families is revealed today in a new report which exposes that one in three lives on less than £10,000 a year.
It also found that more than two-thirds of lone parents have an annual income of less than £15,000, according to the children's charity NCH Scotland.

Sole parent families make up a quarter of all homeless people in Scotland, while lone parents ar
e also more likely to report poor health than those supported by a partner.

There are now 162,000 lone parent families in Scotland and 280,000 children grow up in families with just one parent.

NCH drew on statistics on the state of Scotland's children and young people to create the Scottish Executive-funded Factfile report. The report highlighted that one in four Scottish children lives in poverty.

The charity also fears for the safety and welfare of pre-school children, after a steep increase in the number of children needing "care and protection".

The number of children needing such help has soared from 2,995 to 11,975 between 1996 and 2006.

Almost half of the children needing help lived in lone parent households, compared with 31 per cent who lived with both birth parents.

Andrew Girvan, the director of children's services for NCH Scotland, said: "Having a poor start in life is condemning far too many of our young people to a life of difficulty and disadvantage. We need to act now to stop this pattern repeating itself for another generation of young people."



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  • Last Updated: 13 August 2007 10:58 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Scottish child poverty
 
1

The Daleks,

14/08/2007 03:40:53

The above story highlights Scotland's shame.

What an absolute disgrace that such conditions should exist in 21st century Scotland.

What exactly has our "Socialist" ruling Labour Party elite been doing all of these years?

Is this perhaps part of the Union Dividend that AM2 and the rest of those Loyalist Loons continually harp on about?

2

Boy Wonder,

14/08/2007 05:18:06

I know of several families who live on less than 10K a year! And then there's the elderly and the long-term sick and disabled, all on less than 10K. There's a lot more relative poverty around than has been publicised in recent years. That's one reason I won't vote Labour again. All this taslk of booming prosperity. There's large chunks of our population not seen a bean of it!!

Stick that in yer pipe this morning, Mr Broon at Number 10!!!

3

toby,

edinburgh 14/08/2007 08:14:36

Single parents get less than £10k....... Quite a few folk get less than that. Elderly couples are an example as are single folk who are working yet dont have enough to get housing.

4

GP,

14/08/2007 11:37:01

1# & 2#
You say it all.
A benefit of having been run by the union supporting parties and in particular the labour party.
If instead of feathering their own nests and social climbing, local and national officers actually spent 5 minutes investigating the living standards of the elderly and young then I could support them.
They have and never will bother about those who can't vote (children) and those who have little support in the media (elderly).
For a nation (whether you consider it UK or Scotland does not matter) who takes it upon itself to tell other countries (like Iraq) how they should be living to have such squalor, ill health and under achievement is a National Disgrace.
As long as we have politicans devoid from real life and are only concerned with self advancement there is little hope for the young and old in modern society.

5

Pocket Dictionary,

14/08/2007 11:52:21

Doesn't help when you have a broadcaster on the local station, Talk 107, continually stigmatising lone parents and contstantly calling their children 'little B's'. And the parent company, UTV, claiming on their website to be an ethical company. What's ethical about persecuting lone parents?

6

StevenB,

14/08/2007 16:00:55

Hang on anther article from the Scotsman says this.

Two-thirds of lone parents earn less than £15,000

MORE than two-thirds of lone parents have an income of less than £15,000 a year, while one in three lives on less than £10,000, according to a new survey.

Children's charity NCH Scotland drew on statistics on the state of Scotland's children and young people to create the Scottish Executive-funded Factfile report.

Sole parent families make up a quarter of all homeless people in Scotland, while lone parents are also more likely to report poor health than those supported by a partner. There are now 162,000 lone parent families in Scotland and 280,000 children grow up in families with just one parent.

The report also revealed children from all kinds of family backgrounds are suffering a difficult start in life, with one in four Scottish children living in poverty.

The number of children referred to the Children's Reporter is now the highest ever at 53,883 in the year 2005-06.

7

Conan,

Here 14/08/2007 21:17:59

#5 - Talk 107 is correct, they are indeed and in fact little (they are typically small children) b******* (the parents are typically not married, have not been married, and will not get married - that's even assuming in mating unions anyone kept tract of who the sperm doner was, or was in any condition to remember, or cared - since they'd assume that 'the State' would take car of whatever happened next.

And, what happened next? Well, stip by your local post office on 'money day' and see all these single moms (no dads) show up for their handout.

The mere fact that these women were not posessed of sufficient moral fiber and intelligence to prevent their s***-of-the-earth sex parters from making them pregnant should not be societies problem.

There are, in fact fathers, boyfreinds, parents, relatives - let them help raise these little b*******.

Or, have the mother name the father(s), have him/them DNA tested, then forced to contribute financially to the cost of raising that child. And, if the mother won't or can't name the father - then no benefits and the child will be removed into permanent foster care.

Time to get the gloves of with the self-made dregs of our otherwise reasonable society.

8

val,

15/08/2007 08:39:47

to 7 and the like. what about widows, widowers and those escaping abuse or deserted by uncaring partners who can confound the CSA and give no support?

lone parents do not all have little b's. where i live many couples have these kids.

i am not denying the problem is there, but do not stigmatise those who struggle to make ends meet due to no fault of their own.

I am a lone parent, but was married for over 20 years. although i got maintenance, and have a job, it was still a struggle. yet all 3 of my kids are well behaved and at uni now.

9

Conan,

Here 15/08/2007 08:54:28

OK, Val - none of what you mentioned was what I was addressing - obviously there are cases that need our help and money and that should not be held back.

I'm talking about this low-life scum that's sticking to sides of the gene pool - breeding druggies and neds who are good for nothing except filling holes in the ground.


 

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