Jenny Davidson, the CEO of the Council of Single Mothers and their Children says the report found that the average age of survey respondents was 44, and they had 1.9 children.
“[More than] sixty-five per cent of those [mothers] have been affected by family violence, so that’s a major trigger and there are still stigmas that single mothers are … leaning on the system,” Davidson says.
In reality, almost 80 per cent of single mothers are in paid employment and more are looking for work, she says.
In recent years, there have been some positive changes after the federal government’s decision to raise the age cut-off for the Parenting Payment from eight to 14.
Previously when a child turned eight, a parent would be transferred onto the JobSeeker allowance, which is a lesser payment and requires the parent to look for work.
But there are still challenges. In October, Swinburne University of Technology released a report which found that, in Australia, $1.7 billion is owed in child support. The aim of the report was to “shine a light on how financial abuse is perpetrated” via loopholes in the current Australian child support scheme.
Researchers and campaigners recently called on the federal government to address how support payments are “being weaponised by parents”.
And the Council of Single Mothers and their Children report shows that the risk of homelessness for single mothers is three time greater than the national average.