Articles - Solo Parenting
| Single, Separated, Divorced, Happy but Struggling Financially? |
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Author: Divorce.co.nz | Subject: Solo Parenting |
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Created On: 2007-10-25 | Last Edited On: 2008-01-09 |
Being single happy and poor!
We recently posted an article on our website which addressed some of the ‘isms’ affecting ‘single’ people. Beside it we posted a light-hearted poll which asked our divorce community what ‘being single’ meant to them. The results so far are surprising.
Our options ranged from feeling lonely, outcast, free, happy, and ok, to being economically burdened.
For most being single did not overwhelmingly equal being lonely and feeling empty. In fact only 18% so far have registered this to be the case. It may well be that many in this group are recently separated and after some time may feel quite differently. It would indicate that feeling lonely might be more a consequence of life phase, age, and general circumstances than being unattached.
Being single and being treated as though you are different, socially outcast, knowing that your friends and colleagues think you incomplete without a partner, amounted to 18%. This would indicate that there are some that experience prejudice against due to their single status. Although this group was more acutely aware of the prejudices against, this was not a statement that they were unhappy in themselves. It was simply a statement that they are aware of and possible affected by the prejudices of others in regard to their single status.
A huge 37% percent admitted to being happy, free and feeling OK! I suspect this would have been more if it had not been for the red herring we threw in about financial status.
Whilst the results of this poll continue to grow, it is interesting to note that around 41% say that they felt economically burdened. This would imply that being single and especially single with children, is a financial burden.
The changing nature of work is increasing pressure on families in many ways. It makes being a family unit more challenging than ever due to redundancies, lack of work opportunities, the need to relocate for work, and retrain again and again. The job market is changing, there are fewer reliable full time jobs, and there is a glut of low wage jobs. There are less opportunities for average New Zealanders to access highly paid jobs, as technology, increased local and global competition for work, outsourcing, offshoring, disaggregation and so on, increase competition for jobs and reduce work opportunities for most people.
Let’s face it, average wages struggle to sustain a household let alone provide for a family, or contribute to a handsome retirement fund. The proliferation of benefits, grants and rebates by government is evidence enough of the economic need of families on low income.
If you’re a single parent, then one average wage is simply not enough. Our poll confirms this feeling of economic hardship amongst single parents. The larger issues of having to compete in a global workscape, combined with geographical restrictions on parents with regard to shared parenting arrangements, prohibitive costs of child care may well be some of the issues affecting the ability of single parents (men and women) to be financially self-sufficient and secure.
We would like to hear from parents in our divorce community who relate to this economic hardship, with accounts of why they feel they continue to struggle financially. Please email usadmin@divorce.co.nz with your experiences. If you wish to have your words published please contribute using our function.
submit a story . We look forward to hearing your thoughts.
The information on this website is offered to assist you in becoming informed about divorce matters relevant to New Zealanders. The information may not apply to your unique situation and do not therefore take the place of a lawyer, accountant, financial advisor, counsellor or therapist, etc.
Last Updated October 2007
Copyright Divorce.co.nz 2007 |
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