Supporting and Empowering Lone Parents: A reflection on the Solus and Beachaire research projects 

In 2023, CES completed two major research projects on the experiences of lone parents in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Although the two pieces of research were stand alone, there were many areas of commonality in the research approaches and emerging findings.   

In this article, CES Senior Project Specialists Anne Eustace and Dr Alison Montgomery share their reflections on the synergies in their research.   

Background 

Many lone parents* encounter a host of challenges and barriers as they navigate their day-to-day lives, bringing up and providing for their children whilst looking after themselves. The challenges come in different forms - financial, emotional or social - while barriers to employment, education and childcare are experienced by many lone parents, creating additional difficulties and/or hardship.   

The SOLUS project in Northern Ireland, commissioned by Parenting Focus and funded by abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, examined the financial vulnerabilities facing lone parents and the impact this has on their physical and mental health, their children’s health and their approach to parenting. Almost 300 parents participated in the research, sharing their experiences of how financial hardship impacted on their wellbeing and their families. Relevant stakeholders across the community and voluntary, private and statutory sectors provided additional insights and proposed supports or interventions which could potentially benefit families. 

The Beachaire research, funded by the Beachaire Fund and Community Foundation Ireland, explored the power of community education in Ireland to support lone parents to fulfil their potential in education, employment and society. The research drew on the experience of 8 community organisations delivering community education programmes to lone parents across Ireland, involving over 135 lone parent learner participants and over 50 educators and managers from across the 8 organisations.   

An inclusive approach giving voice to parents 

An important objective of both pieces of research was to capture the views and experiences of parents, ensuring that the parent voice was prioritised. A variety of methods enabled parents to participate in the research and their voices feature prominently in the research reports and briefings, through case studies, quotes and scenarios. 

Both projects placed a significant emphasis on inclusion and ensuring that all parents were able to contribute their views and share their experiences, if they wished to. We took advice from parent advisory groups, pilot samples and other agencies working with parents when devising our surveys and focus group questions to ensure these were accessible and appropriate. 

Both projects purposefully drew on the views of all stakeholders including parents, community organisations, practitioners and policy makers.  

Common findings 

The findings from both pieces of research: 

• Demonstrate the power of support, particularly financial support and community support and education, to enhance the lives of lone parents and their families.
• Show that community settings and community-based support are particularly valued and can have a unique impact because of their ability to be agile, responsive​ and to connect with and understand the needs of people in their locality.
• Confirm that wraparound support is central to reaching good outcomes for families and the provision of affordable, accessible, and flexible childcare is particularly important​.
• Show that the benefits of support are far reaching, potentially having a positive impact on parents’ financial, psychosocial, mental and physical health and the wellbeing of their families.
• Draw attention to the powerful ripple effect through the generations.​ By improving the lives of lone parents, the lives of their children are inherently enriched, leading to longer-term social impact. 

The implications for policy 

The intention of both projects was to place a spotlight on policy and current provisions and gaps in support for lone parents. The research findings and recommendations were communicated widely, encouraging relevant stakeholders to consider the findings and the implications for policy to best support lone parents. 

Common recommendations for action included: 

• ‍Tackle the stigma experienced by lone parents. There is a need to ensure better understanding of lone parents’ circumstances, to tackle negative stereotyping, remove any stigma associated with parenting alone and challenge the misperception that lone parents are a homogenous group.
• ‍Recognise the value of local community organisations and the support they provide, particularly the power of community education to support lone parents to progress their learning and educational development as they wish.
• Increase awareness of and access to the variety of available support across the statutory, community and voluntary sectors, including community education, childcare, financial advice, counselling and other forms of practical and emotional support.
• Agencies and organisations in the statutory and community and voluntary sectors who provide advice to parents should support them to explore their financial capability and to navigate the benefits system, advising how best to maximise their income.
• Relevant government departments and agencies should enable access for families to appropriate evidence-based interventions, including early interventions to enable the needs of the ‘whole family’ to be addressed. 

Resources

You can read ‘Solus: The Impact of Financial Hardship on Single and Separated Parents in Northern Ireland’ research here.

You can read ‘Beachaire: The Power of Community Education: Supporting lone parents to fulfil their potential in education, employment, and society’ research here.

*We use the term ‘lone parents’ which included single parents and people parenting alone due to separation, divorce, bereavement.