oh crevicelmp it's total shit, isn't it? I have been waiting for the last 8 years for some kind of collective social conscience to suddenly 'get it'. The reality is that we are a very small minority of people that this issue affects. We are also mainly women and frequently single which means everything is our fault...way too many people have the 'well, she got what she deserves' and 'why on earth doesn't she just go out to work' attitudes (even when we do work and even when we clearly didn't deserve being beaten to pulps by people who proclaimed to love us or heaven forbid, we decide we don't want to be married to men who cheat on us.
There is a huge shift that needs to take place in our society - don't give up. Shout about it, challenge it. Make a nuisance of yourself. Tell the people around you the truth - because they tell other people. My builder made my day once when after picking up my keys at my place of work said 'you know, I hear all sorts in this job and the last time I heard 'single parents get all the benefits' crap, I told them about you, your job, your home, the fact you look after your children with no support from the ex...'
That's at least one middle-aged man out there who is able to see the truth. One down, millions more to go....we can do it together, for future generations of single parents, even if we can't make the changes for ourselves.
Keep smiling.