Thousands of single parents in Milton Keynes must receive more help during lockdown, urge charities

Charities say they are being “inundated” with calls for support from lone mums and dads who are struggling to cope.

MK is home to 36,200 families and it's estimated that one in four of these - around 9,340 - are single parent families.

This makes the city one of the highest lone parent areas in the country.

Despite an initial period of confusion, the government has clarified that children under 18 with separated parents can continue to visit both parents throughout the lockdown.

But, apart from the stresses of buying food and amusing children during lockdown, the biggest bugbear is still how single parents can manage to work from home while looking after their children.

The government has pledged to support the most vulnerable households financially, but the lone parent charity Gingerbread has reported a record number of calls from panicking mums and dads.

Gingerbread chief executive Victoria Benson said: “Our helplines for the local groups have been overwhelmed with single parents asking, what do they do, as well as practical questions about isolation and lots of financial issues, as well as lots of issues about maintenance and issues with the non-resident parent.”

With schools across the country now closed indefinitely, Benson said she was very concerned that single parents will have to juggle multiple roles within households.

She said: “We’re all expected to look after our children from home but most single parents can’t work from home. Even if you are paid to work from home, how can you work from home and do your job and look after your children at the same time?”

Last week Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a raft of measures to support businesses and low income families, including an increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance and Working Tax Credits.

He said: “Together these measures will benefit over four million of our most vulnerable households.”

However, charities have warned that a lack of support could further push cash-strapped families into poverty. They say there is an urgent need to look at how more financial and emotional support could be provided during this crisis to avoid families being pushed into poverty.