From barriers to belonging: what single parents have taught us about fair work

25/09/2026

News

At One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS), we hear every day from single parents who want to work, train, study and build secure futures for their children. What they often face is not a lack of ambition, but a labour market and support system that has not been designed around the reality of being both sole carer and sole provider. 

That is why our partnership with Public Health Scotland (PHS) has mattered so much. 

This project was never simply about helping single parents apply for jobs. It was about asking a bigger question: what happens when an employer takes seriously the barriers that single parents face, listens to their expertise, and then changes the route into work so that opportunity becomes genuinely accessible? 

Designed with parents, not for parents 

The strength of the PHS parental employment pathway was that it began with listening. 

Through our work with parents, we know that childcare, transport, confidence, benefit transitions, debt, housing worries and previous experiences of stigma can all shape whether work feels possible. These issues do not sit neatly in separate boxes. They overlap, and they can make the journey into employment feel risky rather than hopeful. 

That is why OPFS brought both lived experience and specialist single parent employability expertise into the design of the pathway. Parents helped shape what support should look like before recruitment, during transition into work, and once in post. 

The result was a model that recognised the whole person, not just the applicant. 

The importance of wraparound support 

The six-week Training Academy was central to this approach. It supported parents with applications, interviews, confidence, childcare planning, transferable skills, IT, workplace expectations and financial planning. 

It also created space for trust. 

Parents were able to ask questions, think through the practical realities of work, and receive support with issues that could otherwise have derailed progress, including travel, interview clothing, housing, mental health, and better-off calculations. 

This is the kind of support that too often gets described as “additional”. For single parents, it is essential. It is the difference between an opportunity on paper and one a parent can actually take up and sustain. 

Fair work must be flexible work 

The learning from this project is clear: flexibility is not a favour to single parents. It is a condition of fair access. 

PHS created part-time roles with working patterns agreed through the recruitment process. Parents could balance employment with school runs, childcare, and the wider responsibilities that come with parenting alone. For some, hybrid working also helped make work sustainable. 

That flexibility made a real difference. The evaluation shows that participants felt more able to manage caring responsibilities alongside work, and that this supported their confidence, wellbeing and ability to participate fully. 

When work is designed around real lives, people can bring their skills, commitment and potential into the workplace. 

Natalie with her son

Confidence, dignity and progression 

One of the clearest findings from the evaluation is the impact on confidence. Parents described gaining a sense of purpose, feeling valued within teams, and recognising skills they had not always seen as relevant to work. 

None of it should surprise us. 

Single parents are often highly skilled organisers, communicators, problem-solvers and carers. But traditional recruitment processes can fail to recognise those strengths, particularly when someone has had time away from paid employment. 

By adapting recruitment, focusing on values and transferable skills, and providing interview questions in advance, PHS helped reduce unnecessary anxiety and allowed parents to show what they could offer. 

This is what inclusive recruitment looks like in practice. 

What this means for employers 

The success of this partnership also carries important learning for employers. 

It shows that employability programmes cannot stop at getting someone through the door. Employers need to think about onboarding, line manager support, team culture, protected time for supervision, and meaningful development opportunities. 

The evaluation is honest about the challenges as well as the successes. Line managers need to be engaged early, properly prepared and supported. Teams need clarity about the purpose of the programme and the role they play. This matters because inclusive employment is not only about the person entering work; it is also about the workplace changing so that people can thrive. 

That learning is valuable, and it should shape future programmes across NHS Scotland and beyond. 

Ada with her daughter

 

A partnership with wider significance 

For OPFS, this project has demonstrated what is possible when public bodies use their role as anchor institutions to tackle poverty directly. 

The PHS pathway created paid roles, access to SVQ qualifications, inclusive recruitment and ongoing in-work support. All eight parents are now in secure, permanent employment within PHS. More importantly, parents described improvements in confidence, wellbeing, family stability and hope for the future. 

Those outcomes matter not just for individual parents, but for children too. 

When a parent has secure income, routine, confidence and support, the benefits are felt across the whole family. 

A note of thanks 

I want to thank the parents who shaped and participated in this project. Their honesty, courage and insight have strengthened the model and shown what needs to change. 

I also want to thank colleagues at Public Health Scotland for being willing to listen, adapt and learn. This work required commitment from across PHS, from senior leaders to managers, host teams, People Support and Development colleagues, recruitment colleagues and partners. 

Paul Johnston’s reflections rightly emphasise belonging. From an OPFS perspective, that is exactly what made this project powerful. It moved beyond employability as a transaction and towards employment as inclusion, dignity and possibility. 

Single parents do not need lowered expectations. They need fair chances, flexible systems and support that recognises the realities of their lives. 

When we design work with single parents, not around assumptions about them, families thrive, and so do workplaces.