Scotland’s FM Humza Yousaf visits ‘Glasgow Helps’ partnership project

Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf visited the Crookston Early Years Centre to highlight the Glasgow City Council’s ‘Glasgow Helps’ service, part of the Scottish Government’s child poverty pathfinder pilot in Glasgow of which One Parent Families Scotland is a partner.

The latest statistics show that 24% of children in Scotland live in poverty with the equivalent figures for England and Wales being 31% and 28% respectively.

OPFS attended the visit and the Chief Executive of OPFS, Satwat Rehman said:

“We welcome the visit by the First Minister to this important partnership project with Glasgow City Council and his commitment to policies which aim to reduce child poverty.

Glasgow has the highest levels of child poverty in Scotland with one in three children in the city living in poverty and around half living in single parent families.

Lead Practitioner – Child Poverty at OPFS, Scott Collatin said:

“Attending this event and discussing the partnership’s success in providing immense support and positive outcomes to single parents in the city was truly a pleasure. The chance to engage with a single parent and listen to her personal account of how the assistance she received had transformed her and her children’s lives only reaffirmed the significant impact of our work and support on families.”

Daily life is becoming increasingly challenging for single parents, the majority of whom are women. The rising cost of living is having a disproportionately negative impact on those living on the lowest incomes. It is not only about having no heating or enough food but also the constant mental toll of not being able to pay bills, not knowing when things will get better and worrying how to cope each day and whilst juggling the responsibilities of raising a family whilst living in poverty.

The funding from Scottish Government for this project has meant that we have been able to provide parents with an immediate support service, at the right time for them, and to provide ongoing support to help reduce child poverty.”

Over the last two years OPFS Glasgow have supported 1,780 single parents with over 2,600 children and through specialist advice enabled families to access crisis help and benefit entitlement, which they may have otherwise missed out on, worth £3.1 million.

Notes

• Established in 1944, One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS) is the leading charity working with single parent families in Scotland. We provide expert advice, practical support, and campaign with parents to make their voices heard to change the systems, policies and attitudes that disadvantage single parent families.
• One in four families in Scotland are single parent families. There are around 190,000 single parents with over 291,000 dependent children. 92 per cent of single parents are mothers, and eight per cent are fathers. The median age of single parents is thirty-eight and 59.2 per cent of single parents are in work.
• UK child poverty stats are from Households below average income (HBAI) statistics HBAI Table 4.6db (cells K51 and K63)
• OPFS has identified five key priorities from consultations with single parents which the organisation is urging candidates in the General Election to support.
• One Parent Families Scotland has been supporting and campaigning for single parents for over 70 years.
• Free of charge Lone Parent Helpline (0808 801 0323) provides support and advice on anything from dealing with a break-up, moving into work, or sorting out maintenance, benefit, or tax credit issues.
• OPFS helps thousands of lone parents every year through its Lone Parent Helpline and information services. It also runs projects in Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh, Aberdeenshire, Falkirk, and Lanarkshire.

For media enquiries please contact media@opfs.org.uk.