Every parent will experience financial difficulties. Being a mother or a father is the most rewarding experience that one can have. However, it is also one that requires you to be frugal with your money, whether it is about treating your children to the luxuries they deserve or simply putting food on the table at the end of the day. It is a challenge that faces two-parent families every single day, so you can only imagine how much harder it is for single-parent families.
Single parents have to shoulder the entire responsibility for a family. They are the breadwinner for all of their dependents; they do not have a secondary income on which to rely. This can not only contribute to a great deal of anxiety; it can also make it harder for them to enjoy some of the simple pleasures that families should have. Research by PayPlan as part of their Cost Of Single Parenting campaign, for instance, revealed just how much more it costs for single parents to have a family holiday compared to two-parent families. They showed that it costs £2,444 per paying adult for a two-parent family to go on a Mediterranean family cruise. But it cost £4,707 per paying adult when it is just a single parent looking to take their children abroad. That is £2,262 more.
Of course, this does not just apply to family holidays. Single parents have to shoulder a bigger cost when it comes to cinema trips, days out and travel as well. The debt help provider’s researchers found that it can cost up to £50 more per paying adult for a single parent to buy a “family ticket” with Virgin Trains. They even found that it costs £12.50 more per paying adult at an Odeon cinema. It all goes to show how single parents have a lot of financial pressure on their shoulders, even when it comes to just treating their families.
