Why do single parents need protected characteristic status?

Single parents are often treated differently because of their single parent status. Most other groups who are treated unfairly due to a personal characteristic are protected against this by the Equality Act, such as those who are married/in a civil partnership. By being excluded from the Act, single parents are regularly subject to discrimination.

Our research into single parent discrimination showed that up to 80% of single parents experience discrimination, and this is higher for groups that face other forms of oppression, including black single parents and single parents of colour, those living with a disability and those on a lower income. In turn, this discrimination affects the mental health, physical wellbeing and financial resources of single parents and also affects their children. You can find more details on the issue here.

ARen’t single parents covered under the ‘sex’ characteristic of the equality act?

The discrimination that single parents face is based specifically on their single parent status. Whilst the majority are women and indirect sex discrimination can sometimes be relied on, it is not the individual's sex which is causing the discrimination. For example, when up against other parents in a job, single parents are often viewed as less flexible compared to other parents. Meanwhile in government benefit rules single parents face lower household limits on accessing certain benefits and tax exemptions.

Furthermore, ten- fifteen per cent of single parents are men and they too face single parent discrimination. For example, many single fathers are discriminated against in being charged the bedroom tax for a second bedroom which is used by their child(ren), or are rejected support to fund adaptations for their children if they have a disability.

aren’t single parents covered under the ‘marital status’ characteristic of the Equality Act?

The ‘marital status’ characteristic of the Equality Act, as it is sometimes mistakenly referred to is actually not for marital status. This characteristic is for being married or in a civil partnership. Therefore anyone who is single, divorced or widowed will not be covered by this characteristic. We believe this is unfair to those of other marital status who experience discrimination and are asking for this to be changed.

Shouldn’t single parents be given additional rights given the additional challenges they face?

Currently single parents are not on an equal footing with their married counterparts. We are campaigning for equality first and foremost. In reality single parents face challenges which could mean they require additional support. This is something we will be looking into once we have secured equal rights for single parents.

Won’t adding single parents to the Equality Act mean that other groups will call to be added to the Act too?

Most groups at risk of discrimination are already protected in the Equality Act. The three other groups who are also pushing for protected characteristic are single people, parents and people from low socio-economic backgrounds. Given the close connection between single parents and these other groups, we support the incorporation of those groups within the Equality Act and believe this can be done by amending ‘married’ to marital status, and adding parental responsibility to the ‘maternity’ characteristic. Single parents need to be protected in the Equality Act as a specific protected characteristic to protect them against the very specific discrimination they face.

How can you legislate for a characteristic which can change? i.e. people move in and out of single parenthood at different times in their lives.

A number of protected characteristics can and do fluctuate over time, including pregnancy/maternity, religious belief, being married/in a civil partnership and disability. With any discrimination case the onus is on the individual to prove they are in the protected characteristic group. This would be the same with single parenting and could be proven in different ways depending on the circumstances e.g. council tax bills, benefits statements etc.

Relationships are complex, how would people ‘prove’ their single parent characteristic?

This law change is being advocated for as a way to prevent discrimination towards single parents. Single parents turning to the law for compensation where discrimination has occurred would be a last resort. By encouraging policy-makers and businesses to consider how a single parent might be affected by certain rules and regulations, individuals do not need to prove their status. That would only need to happen in the case of a legal complaint against a company or institution. In such cases, the protected characteristic would work in a similar way to the protected characteristic of ‘disability’ where the onus is on the individual to prove their ‘status’. Proving single parent status could be done in a number of ways depending on the individual's circumstances e.g. electoral roll, single person council tax benefit, letters from children’s school/childcare setting, Universal Credit account or other benefit awards. Proving the unfair treatment would differ on a case by case basis as with any incident of discrimination.

I’m a single parent and I’ve never faced discrimination, why should I support this campaign?

It’s great to hear there are single parents out there who haven’t experienced direct discrimination. However, this isn’t the case for the majority of single parents. According to our research 20% of single parents do not experience discrimination, leaving up to 80% who do.

As with all forms of discrimination, other characteristics intersect to create multiple forms of discrimination. For example, a black single mother is likely to experience discrimination differently to a white single parent and - on average - will be at greater risk of single parent discrimination. This is also the case for single parents living with disabilities. The life circumstances of an individual can also affect their likelihood of experiencing discrimination. Single parents with young children are more likely to be discriminated against in the workplace, and single parents who rent privately are more likely to face discrimination than those who own their own home or have social housing. Some single parents may have never considered things like paying more for days out, or having lower household thresholds for child benefits as discrimination, but these rules do treat single parent households differently.

We hope that everyone will get behind the Single Parent Rights campaign whether you’re a single parent or not, and whether you’ve experienced direct discrimination or not.

Single parents aren’t victims or vulnerable, so why do we need protected characteristic status?

Single parents aren’t victims. Neither are any of the other groups listed in the Equality Act. Sometimes single parents can become the victims of discrimination, however, and we need our rights protected in law so that we can challenge this when it happens. By having single parents in the Equality Act it would also help to focus policy-makers minds when developing policy so that we are considered as equal members of society.

I have faced discrimination as a single parent, what can I do?

If you have faced discrimination, or want to learn more about your current rights in relation to a specific area, check out our Resources page in the menu tab. You can also contact us and we can work with you to raise awareness of your experiences.

HOW CAN I MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

The more people involved in the campaign, the more likely we will succeed. You can get involved by asking your council to pass a motion of support. This can be done using a template letter which can be found on the Take Action page in our menu tab.

I’M A SINGLE PARENT - WHERE CAN I GET SUPPORT?

There are a number of single parent charities which provide support to single parents: