EXPERIENCES OF LONE PARENTS FROM MINORITY ETHNIC COMMUNITIES

6 May 2003 09:45 AM

PUBLICATION OF DWP RESEARCH REPORT:

Research published today by the Department for Work and Pensions, carried out by Nick Pettigrew from British Market Research Bureau (BMRB), examines experiences of lone parents from different minority ethnic groups and their participation in the New Deal for Lone Parents (NDLP) and their interaction with the Child Support Agency.

The main findings are as follows:

Attitudes towards support and childcare

- A strong preference was expressed by Black and Asian lone parents for nursery provision rather than childminders. Nursery provision was felt to provide a more stimulating environment and more educational content. There was a resistance, especially from Asian lone parents, to anyone else outside of the family looking after their children.

- The non-English speakers in the sample very often had limited understanding of the services offered by the NDLP programme and communications received from the Child Support Agency. Those that had recently started living in the UK also had problems
understanding the welfare state and the associated services offered.

Attitudes and Barriers to Work

- Those Asian lone parents that had stopped working when they had married believed it had not been culturally acceptable for them to work. Even with the father gone, there was a perception, especially from those from the Pakistani and Bangladeshi community, that it was still not culturally acceptable within their community to be seen to be working.

- Generally, lone parents had not experienced any racism, nor did they believe it existed, on the part of employers - they felt that it was their status as a lone parent that affected their prospects of getting work.

NDLP

- Amongst the non-English speakers and those lone parents with limited English skills, there was often no, or very limited, awareness of the NDLP programme. Written communications had not been understood and lone parents were confused to the nature of the programme. This was a major factor as to why non-English speakers did not attend the initial NDLP interview.

- Support from family, friends and the older children was often a crucial factor on whether lone parents from Asian backgrounds in particular would attend both the initial NDLP interview and accept any subsequent decision to join NDLP. Negative feedback from family often led to them not taking up the initial invitation.

- The ethnicity and gender of the Personal Adviser (PA) was not perceived to be important by either black and Asian lone parents, as it was felt that the advisers had shown understanding and sensitivity to the needs of the lone parent.

Child Support Agency

- There was little awareness of the role of the Child Support Agency. Those claiming benefit were not aware that, as a condition of their claim, they would have to deal with the Agency. This was particularly the case for those with no or limited English skills and those who were recently arrived in the UK.

- Those that refused to deal with the Child Support Agency suggested a number of reasons including: too formal an approach; lack of explanation given around the decision; a perception that it would not be effective with the non-resident parent (NRP), negative views about the Child Support Agency; threats of violence and
repercussions from the NRP; the NRP was not in the country; and being disowned by family members if they dealt with the Child Support Agency.

- Black and Asian lone parents that had had negative experiences of the Child Support Agency believed that the ethnicity and gender of the Child Support Agency staff should be matched to the lone parents. This was because the information being asked for was of such a personal nature. However this was not a recommendation made by those lone parents who had positive experiences in dealing with the Agency.

Notes to editors

1. The research adopted a wholly qualitative methodology. Sixty-one in-depth interviews were conducted with lone parents from five different minority ethnic groups (Black Caribbean, Black African, Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani) in three different areas in the UK (Midlands, London, North). The sample covered a mixture of lone parents in terms of age, age of children, educational qualifications, length of time on benefit and sex (one lone parent was male).

2. 'Experiences of Lone Parents from Minority Ethnic Communities' by Nick Pettigrew, DWP Research Report Series (no. 187) is published on 6 May 2003. A summary and copy of the report are available on the DWP website: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/index.html.

website: www.dwp.gov.uk