(1888PressRelease)
January 24, 2008 - Findings released from a survey aimed at single parents show that nearly two thirds of those questioned feel the government could do more to support them financially.
Online resource for single parents www.singleparentfun.com carried out the poll, finding that 31 per cent of those questioned believe more could be done by Mr. Brown to provide better access to childcare for one parent families.
The research also indicates that over the last decade 83 per cent of single parents have noticed a positive change in the public’s perception of them.
With 27 per cent of the vote, members chose Sir Bob Geldof as the celebrity single parent they could most identify with. In second place with 15 per cent was Sarah Ferguson, closely followed by celeb mums Gail Porter, Mel B and controversially, Jade Goody.
When questioned about why their chosen celebrities got the vote, 31 per cent of members revealed that it was their ‘triumph over adversity’ that grabbed their attention. One quarter of voters felt it was due to celebrities having good relationships with their children and 20 per cent said that their choice of famous parent were good role models for other single parents.
A massive 93 per cent of those questioned felt that holiday firms do not cater enough for single parent families. There are 2.5 million single parents in the UK, many of whom are on a tight budget. Tour operators often calculate prices based on two adults sharing and many ‘child offers’ are only valid if this criteria is met. This means holiday prices are often too high to be met with 58 per cent suffering as this luxury is just too much of an expense.
13 per cent of single parents taking the survey admitted to finding family holidays too lonely and 14 per cent revealed any kind of trip with the children is just too stressful to do alone.
Single parent and founder of Singleparentfun.com Gary Spicer said:
“Hopefully this poll will go some way in highlighting to the government that there are still key issues that need to be addressed for single parents. Also, we can hope that some of the leading holiday firms that are not catering for single parent families well enough, will see that something needs to be done to cater for the 2.8 million single parents in the UK.”
www.singleparentfun.com was launched in June 2007 by Gary Spicer, a single dad of two. He was fed up of the lack of interaction between single parents and felt that he needed to do something to encourage interaction between single parents all over the country.
The site has a message board were members can interact with each other and share advice and information. There is an online life coach who highlights common themes and topics, offering assistance to key issues.
There are also deals on holidays aimed at single parents and information about organised days out with the children.
Although the site is not a dating site there have already been a number of couples formed from interaction on the sites message boards.
