ABSTRACT
In 1974 the Finer Committee stated that lone parent families “had been forced upon the attention of politicians and administrators of social services as a special group having exceptionally low standards of living”. This chapter focuses on the areas of employment, income, housing and physical health, the main indicators of standards of living, comparing where possible with those of national studies. It should be stressed, however, that making such comparisons is particularly difficult, since this sample contains only 90 mothers from the London area. The increased participation levels in the labour market of women with under fives have seen a large rise in the use of paid child care. The 90 mothers were asked about their future plans regarding employment. Fifteen of the mothers currently in work were totally satisfied with their jobs. The presence of dependent children in a household tends to indicate that it is more likely to have certain consumer durable goods.
