Single parents welcome welfare bill amendments

But the organisation released a report criticising other plans in the Welfare Reform Bill to cut the benefits of single parents who do not take part in "work related activity" to Jobcentre Plus deadlines.

Fiona Weir, chief executive of Gingerbread, said : "Last week's amendments to the Welfare Reform Bill indicate that Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Yvette Cooper understands that this policy will have to work in the real world. The scales are too often weighted against single parents who need help and not hindrance to combine paid work with bringing up children."

Yvette Cooper last week announced a pilot scheme aiming to help lone parents try out part time jobs as a step to getting off benefits. Single parents on Income Support who work for less than16 hours will be able to earn £50 a week through their own job before it has any impact on their benefit. The trial will run in selected areas from next year.

Cooper said: "We need to help families out of poverty by helping parents work, and we will always do so in a way that also supports family life. We want parents to get the help they need to build a better life for both their children and themselves."

The Gingerbread report,  There's only one of me, aims to reveal the reality of life as a single parent managing the difficult balance of work and parenting alone.