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In Germany, nearly one-fifth of families with minor children are single parent families, and nearly one-third of these single parent families is at risk of poverty.

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BIBB/BAuA 2018

Twice the challenge:

Single parents in employment

36 baua: Facts

In Germany, nearly one-fifth of families with minor children are single parent families, and nearly one-third of these single parent families is at risk of poverty.

1

Taking up a job is important for single parents, but given their family responsibilities, work puts additional strain on them. To learn more about the work and health situation of working single parents, we analyse data from the BIBB/BAuA Employment Survey 2018. The results show that single parents in employment have to cope with occupational and financial insecurities and report certain health problems more frequently.

To learn more about the work context and health condi- tions of single parents, we look at persons who work more than ten hours per week, do not live with a partner, and have at least one minor child living in their household (n = 808). They are compared with employed persons in two-parent families, who live with at least one minor child and a partner in the household (n = 5,774), and with other employed persons who do not (or no longer) live with mi- nor children in the household (n = 13,324). The purpose of the comparison is to examine the particular challenges that working single parents face in their everyday lives.

Overall, about three out of four working single parents are women. Most working single parents have children of school age or older (6 – 13 years: 45.3 %; 14 – 17 years:

35.3 %). The majority of single parents works in the ser- vice sector (38.6 %) and in public services (26.7 %). The most common occupations among single parents are in care and nursing, education, and sales.

Occupational and financial insecurities for single pa- rents in employment

Single parents are more likely than other employed per- sons to work reduced hours: 41.1 % are employed part time (up to 34 hours/week) (see Figure 1). Women are more likely to work part time than men, but gender dif- ferences go beyond this. Single fathers tend to work part time more often than fathers who live with a partner, but among women, single mothers work part time less often than mothers who live with a partner. A lower number of working hours is often accompanied by a lower income:

around 30 % of working single parents report a gross monthly wage that is less than 1,500 euros (two-parent families: 17.0 %, other employed persons: 16.6 %). Mo-

thers are particularly often affected by this. It is also clear that 17.5 % of single parents work in temporary employ- ment. This form of employment is more than twice as common among single parents as it is among employees who live in a two-parent family. Single parents, especially women, are thus more often affected by an insecure finan- cial situation than other employed persons, even if they have a job. However, only a relatively small share of em- ployees think that the risk of their contract not being rene- wed or being dismissed from the company is (very) high (single parents: 9.6 %, two-parent families: 6.1 %, other employed persons: 7.6 %).

Fig. 1: Employment conditions in comparison (in %)

Compromises in balancing family and career

Balancing work schedules and family responsibilities is a major challenge for single parents. Nearly one-fifth (18.8 %) report that they can rarely or never manage to take family and private interests into account when planning their working hours (two-parent families:

23,3

17,5 16,6

17,0

29,6 31,0

41,1

11,5 7,8

0 % 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 %

part time (10 to 34 hours per week)

monthly gross income less than 1,500€

temporary employment

part of a two-parent

family without minor children

single parents

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baua: Facts Twice the challenge: Single parents in employment 2

Impressum | Publisher: Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), Friedrich-Henkel-Weg 1–25, D-44149 Dortmund, Phone: +49 231 9071-2071, E-Mail: info-zentrum@baua.bund.de, Internet: www.baua.de | Authors: M. Dötsch, Editor: Dr. G. Meilicke, Design: M. Marano | doi:10.21934/baua:facts20210705 | September 2021

36

Further information

1 Statistisches Bundesamt (2018). Alleinerziehende in Deutschland 2017. Available at:

www.destatis.de/DE/Presse/Pressekonferenzen/2018/

Alleinerziehende/pressebroschuere-alleinerziehende.pdf 2 Rattay, P.; Lippe, E. v. d.; Borgmann, L.-S.; Lampert, T.

(2017). Gesundheit von alleinerziehenden Müttern und Vätern in Deutschland. Journal of Health Monitoring, 2(4), S. 24–44. doi: 10.17886/RKI-GBE-2017-112 3 audit berufundfamilie: www.berufundfamilie.de 15.0 %; other employed persons: 17.8 %). More than half of

the parents (living with or without a partner) report having made sacrifices in order to balance family and career.

Of these, 34.4 % of single parents have made very large sacrifices, a proportion twice as high as that of employed persons who live in a two-parent family (16.9 %). This concerns sacrifices in the professional and private area.

Furthermore, almost one in five working single parents (18.5 %) is less satisfied or not satisfied with her/his occu- pational position (two-parent families: 10.4 %, other em- ployed persons: 11.6 %). Thus, single parents in employ- ment often have to balance work and family individually and accept cutbacks in their professional career.

Single parents in employment are more frequently af- fected by health problems

Analyses of the available data (see Figure 2) show that working single parents more frequently report certain psy- chosomatic complaints than others. More than half of the employed single parents suffer from general fatigue and tiredness; 43.4 % and 35.2 %, respectively, report heada- ches and emotional exhaustion.

part of a two-parent

family without minor children

single parents

26,2 24,2

35,2 32,2

35,7 43,4

48,0 46,1

55,8

0 % 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 60 % general fatigue

headaches

emotional exhaustion

Fig. 2: Health problems of employed persons in comparison (in %)

Conclusion

Single parents in employment find themselves in a difficult situation: they want to spend time with their children, yet at the same time they have to earn a living on their own.

The analyses show that single parents are more often employed part time and on a temporary basis than other parents. Despite being employed, single parents someti- mes have to come to terms with financial insecurities and deal with professional and private cutbacks. The results further suggest that single parents are more likely to report certain health problems.

Supervisors should be aware of their responsibilities to- wards all employees. It is important to support them as best as possible in balancing family and career. Employers can, for example, participate in the audit “workandfamily”³ (audit berufundfamilie) to evaluate and further deve- lop their policies for a family-friendly work environment.

Moreover single parents should pay attention to their health and try to schedule recreational breaks into their daily routine.

English translation. German original version available:

doi: 10.21934/baua:fakten20210216

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