SNP councillor Martha Mattos Coelho called upon The City of Edinburgh Council to mark the contribution that single parents make and the unique challenges they face by celebrating them at least one day a year.
This was approved by the council at its meeting on Thursday.
Cllr Mattos Coelho, who is herself a single mum to two young sons, brought a motion to the meeting asking all groups to support her proposal for an Edinburgh Single Parents Day, to be observed on 21 March each year.
The motion noted that 39% of children in single parent households live in poverty, and two-fifths of those children are in a family where the single parent is working. Data shows that overwhelmingly single parents who are the main carer in the household are women. More than a quarter of households with children are headed by a single parent.
The motion also notes that the United States has marked its “Single Parents Day” as a way raising awareness of the specific challenges faced by single parents since as far back as 1984.
Cllr Mattos Coelho said: “All the data is clear – single parents and their children are at much higher risk of poverty. Single parents very often have to combine working with their caring responsibilities. Years and years of austerity have cut back the support that the government provides single parents – policies like the two child cap on Child Tax Credits and its replacement through Universal Credit have hit many households really hard.
“The Scottish Government has been making a big difference through policies like the Scottish Child Payment but I know from personal experience that things are still really hard. Edinburgh marking Single Parents Day will help to shine a light on the experiences of single parents and the contribution they make.”
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