Our vision is of a society in which single parents are valued, and where they – as well as their children – are treated equally and fairly. There are around 1.8 million single parents in Britain – nearly one in four families with dependent children. Financial insecurity, stigma and social isolation are issues faced by many single parents today, and our work focuses on reducing these challenges.
We support single parent families in lots of different ways, so we measure our impact across the range of services we provide. We understand just how diverse single parents are, and our support takes account of their differences as well as their common experiences.
More than 700,000 people access our website each year – and that’s more than doubled in the past five years.
We build our library of online information in response to changes in policy that will affect single parents, as well as with stories and news we receive from single parents.
Our free single parent helpline is one of our most vital channels of support. Each year, we help more than 7,000 parents address complex financial, emotional, and practical needs through our helpline, averaging 17 minutes per call.
We know single parenting can often feel lonely. Sometimes, speaking to someone else in the same situation can make a world of difference.
60 Gingerbread friendship groups in England and Wales bring single parents together. Through our groups – coordinated by volunteers – single mums and dads offer support to each other.
We also offer an online space for single parents to speak. Our forum is a safe space just for single parents – where they can speak freely and honestly about struggles they are facing or pose questions to peers.
Find out more about the impact and reach of Gingerbread’s work in 2022-23, and our plans for the year ahead in our impact report.
