54% of children of single mothers are at risk of poverty
Lonelier than ever is the title of the report presented by the organization Save the Children about the situation of single mothers in Spain. Among its main conclusions, it is worth noting that more than half of the children living with their single mothers they are at risk of poverty.
The plight of single mothers
The data and figures provided by this report in reference to the plight of these women, single mothers, are the following:
- The poverty rate in children living with their mothers alone is 54%, 12.5 percentage points more than the whole of the child population and double that of the total population.
- 65% of women in single-parent households He says he has difficulties to make ends meet.
- Three out of four single mothers had to reduce fixed costs of the house.
- 37.8% of the homes of single mothers suffer from energy poverty, that is, he can not keep the home at the right temperature in the home.
- More than half of single mothers do not work, compared to 69.9% of households with children in which at least one parent has a job.
Increase the number of single-parent homes
The number of single-parent households has increased significantly, according to data from a survey published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) on the composition of Spanish households. The number of households formed by a mother with children has grown 2.7% in a year, while that of parents with children has done 3.2%. Overall, they have grown by 2.7% compared to 2013. Mainly, they are made up of mothers with children (1,450,400, 82.7% of the total, compared to 304,200 of father with children).
The reasons why single-parent families are at greater risk of poverty or social exclusion are, according to the Save the Children organization, the lack of job opportunities, the problem of housing, the precariousness of health or the lack of a network support.
And it is that economic precariousness directly affects health, both in the case of mothers and children, as the report states. Thus, one out of every four single mothers says that they can not buy medicines or follow a treatment because they can not afford it.
Solutions for families at risk of social exclusion
Some of the measures proposed by the organization Save the Children and which claims the Government and public administrations are:
1. The extension of the maternity deduction for single mothers at risk of exclusion with children under three years of age, regardless of whether the mother works or not.
2. Increase in economic benefit for dependent children or less welcomed up to 150 euros per month.
3. Protect children from evictions and evictions by law, and that these families be considered as collectives that are beneficiaries of rent subsidies and as priority members in accessing protected housing.
4. Create a non-contributory maternity benefit for active mothers without resources who have never worked.
5. Extension of maternity leave until a year.
Marisol Nuevo Espín
