I watched J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, on a recent interview with Jon Stewart. She talked about her days as a struggling single mother on welfare in England, and how government services saved her from abject poverty — and enabled her to create the book series that made her one of the most famous, and richest writers in the world. This experience, she said, is the reason she has chosen to remain in England and pay high taxes: because she feels an obligation to give back.
I was blown away by her statement. Here, in America, the majority of our richest citizens feel entitled to scheme their way into paying as little taxes as possible. Greed and the it’s-all-about-me-and-my-type philosophy have decimated this country. We need more people like J.K. Rowling who admit that they have more than enough and believe it is their civic duty to help those who don’t.
One of the ways Rowling gives back is through her participation in Gingerbread, a U.K.-based charity serving single parents. Rowling has been Gingerbread’s President and supporter since 2000. Besides providing practical assistance for single parents, Gingerbread also offers a support network to ease the isolation common to those running one-parent households.
I asked a Gingerbread representative to write a guest post for me and she graciously agreed. Read below to learn more about this remarkable organization. Someday, I hope, we will have something like it in this country. And if anyone has any ideas about how to make that happen, please contact me!
There are 2 million single parents in the UK, bringing up 3 million children. One in every four households in Britain is now headed by a single parent. Despite this, single parents and their children continue to face higher levels of poverty, disadvantage and discrimination – in fact, kids raised in single parent families in the UK are twice as likely to grow up in poverty as kids raised in a family where the parents are still together.
Here in the UK at the charity Gingerbread, we think single parents do a brilliant job, and often under very tough circumstances. Gingerbread is the national charity for single parent families – our strapline reads ‘single parents, equal families’ and that’s what we believe in. We’ve been working with single parent families in England and Wales for almost 100 years now, providing expert advice, practical support and campaigning on the issues that matter. We also offer training to help single parents who want to return to the workplace.
When you’re raising your family alone, getting the right advice for your situation can be crucial. The Gingerbread Single Parent Helpline is staffed by expert advisers all trained to give practical support and information on the issues affecting single parent families, such as separation and contact between children and their other parent, or housing options and financial support. Our website is also packed with information, factsheets, tools and webchats designed to make finding the facts for your family that little bit more straightforward.
But it’s not all about the practical side. Single parents often tell us that one of the aspects of bringing up their children on their own that they find most challenging is the sense of loneliness and isolation – particularly if they don’t have family close by. We know how important it is to have the help and support of a community of like-minded people – and that’s why more than 40,000 single parents in the UK have chosen to become part of our community as a Gingerbread member.
Our members receive a monthly online newsletter packed full of updates and special offers, access to our lively online forums where single mums and dads come to chat, and the opportunity to join or start a local Gingerbread group where they can meet and make friends with families like theirs – all for free. And being part of Gingerbread also means being part of a force of single parents who want to make their voices heard on the issues affecting them.
We campaign for fair and equal treatment for single parent families – influencing governments, changing laws and challenging stigma and stereotype to show the true diversity of family life in the UK today. Right now, we’re campaigning to make sure single parents can find, keep and progress in a decent job that allows them to balance their responsibilities at home with their career goals and earn enough to support their children. When one in five single parent families is living in poverty despite working full-time hours, it’s clear some real changes are needed. So we want the UK government and employers to take action and Make it work for single parents.
Anyone can find themselves bringing up children on their own – no matter their age, background or circumstances. At Gingerbread, we’re here for all single parents and their children to help make things a little easier.
Amazing! So nice to see that JK Rowling is giving back in such a meaningful way!
Thank you for raising this issue! I think that one of the reasons single parents have such a hard time here in the USA is because of the punitive mindset here. What I mean by this is that there is still an underlying thought (much due to ‘a’ loud segment of our society) that the situations people find themselves in are their own fault and should take responsibility for their own actions. Then along with this, if we help single parents then it affirms the idea that divorce or having children out of wedlock is just as acceptable as a family within marriage…so helping would encourage people to do the unacceptable.
I think this is just a travesty….however, I really think this is the basic reason. Therefore, we have to first help to stop this way of thinking.
Thank you Pauline….. say, I wrote you and wonder if you ever recieved my email?
Jenny Elaine Sorge
http://www.aroundeverycornerat.blogspot.com
You did, Jenny, and I apologize for not writing back sooner…will respond soon. Your points are well taken.
Hi Pauline,
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hi Pauline, I am a single mom and divorced and i have two kids and my disabled senior citizen mom, and we live with my sister and her three kids in a 2 bedroom small apartment and it is so small and over crowded and me and my mom has low income ,but we so desperately stand in the need of finances, to get our owh home can you imagine raising so many kids up in a small place.it is very hective. not where to turn to to get where we need to get ,so would you please direct me in the right place.Thanks and Jesus bless you.Sincerely Shirley F.
Hi Shirley — I’m so sorry to hear that you’re in that situation. Are you in the U.S.? As far as I know, there is nothing like Gingerbread here, they are just in the U.K. There is such a need for services for low-income single parents in this country. Perhaps try googling “single parents” “financial assistance” and the state you live in,a and maybe you’ll find some resources. Good luck!
My name is Jackie I have been undergoing a custody battle for 7 years now. I recently lost April 14, 2011, due to lack of financial means and my ex makes over 150,000 a year. His wife is raising my daughter while he is out of state as a pilot every other week. I make 14,000 a year and I pay him child support. I am devastated. It is coming up on two years and I am afraid to go back to court as I have spent over 50,000 in court fees, lost every I have and I have visitation every other weekend. My weekends have been pre planned according to the child’s extracurricular activities. I feel as if this is never going to end. He controls everything, my daughter just recently said, “you have to take me to my activities Mom, the court order says so.” My relationship with my daughter is distant, he never has her call me. There is soooo much that is wrong I don’t know where to begin. I can say that this is epidemic in this country and mother’s are losing their children. Not because we don’t love our children because we don’t have the financial means to give them all the material junk. When did love have to have a monetary value? I cry every day. Here is an example of last weekend, He said she has a class Saturday from 9:45-12:00 pm then basketball from 1:30-4pm. I live an hour away from these activities. Then on Sunday Lacrosse at 9:00am, 11:00 am and 12:00 pm. She goes back to them at 6:00. Her step mother came to her games which I found to be odd because she convinced the judge she was afraid of me and yet she shows up on my visitation weekend, and will be getting her back at 6 that evening. Its all out of sorts, I have become out of sorts and struggling to exist anymore. I need help, lots of help, I just don’t understand.
Jackie, I am SO sorry for what you’re going through. Your story is evidence of why family law is a travesty. Do you have anyone you can turn to for emotional support? Family members? Friends?
This post has really touched me. Our children are our future. And enabling them with the mindset of limitless possibilities propels our future to highest level. From the position amongst the stars many of the issues we struggle with today disappear. Give parents and children the opportunity to grow and they will. We can do this together! Thank you!
Alex
http://www.barefootalex.com