How manageable is life for single parents in the UK currently?

[Beatrix91]

How is life for a single parent in the UK atm? How about single parent foreigners ? Thank you for your every answer!

Why? I’m surely it will depend on a whole host of things like income, number of children, send or health issues and support systems.

For how many children? What ages? Is the other parent involved at all?

Mum(33) , no degree(but fast learner and not afraid to work hard but honest work) , 1 child not to far from secondary school ( trilingual ~ love its place of birth, the UK, never influenced, its own choice), no other parent. Atm no preference for a certain place, only that is low in crime, good schools, and warm community! 8 years ago I had to leave the UK , but it was never because of the country. I loved it there ! The people, the way they behave , maybe I was lucky .. but even if I worked till I cried it was honest work at the end of the day and I was able to afford anything and more! I wish to come back.. if someone has experiences to share, how do they manage even if their situation is different than mine , all the help is welcomed !

The hardest and most expensive part in my opinion about being a mum in the UK is childcare. However your son is past needing nursery.

I have family in southern Europe and we have spent extensive stretches of time there and I still think the quality of state education and life as a parent is much better in the UK.

The weather is a big negative - I have a lot of family and friends who have tried to live in the UK and hated it with a passion and left. Personally, I like it (but I'm a pale ginger woman) and clearly you liked it too. Will your son like it?

It all comes down to your career prospects though. If you left 8 years ago, you don't have settled status. How will you have the right to work?

School wise, it might be tricky. You need to look into carefully. Don't come in the middle of the school year. And re academics, will your son cope? You need to make sure he is not behind when he starts.

Referring to your child as ‘it’ is a bit strange in English.
You’d be better off seeing if you can find a Facebook group that’s a bit more relevant to your situation. Would you be able to just get a job in the UK? Would you be eligible for benefit top ups? Would you be buying your own house? All this changes things

I am using “it”because I am afraid of sharing personal information , even the gender of my kid, and “them” sounds stranger to me than “it” . It took me a lot of courage to post here. On facebook I can go to read maybe, but I would not feel comfortable to post. And yes, I would be able to get a job but having no degree means I would be not be payed a lot, but for sure better than where I am now. I don’t think I am eligible for any benefits until settled status so, that help is excluded. I would like that people in my situation or that know others in similar need to share their knowledge to me. And thank you for that!

Thank you for taking the time to answer very useful information. Well .. I told my kid about the rain, and the cold, and “it” prefers colder weather. I hope to be able to come when it can take a little bit care of itself(sorry for keeping using it , just trying to protect us as much as I can, nowadays strange people lurk everywhere) , like come from school warm up a meal, take a medicine by itself( i am a responsible parent, i would not let medicine lying around, just like a paracetamol or an ibuprofen for an ache~fever in case something happens and I am late + plus I trust it with my life , take a shower, close the door, clean up after itself. About academics, here is just a lot, a lot of information, and tests both written and oral, without following a clear line, just a lot in just little time and it takes away my child s joy to uncover the world(and I won’t even mention that a lot of information is not updated and/or just wrong). I am looking to apply for a sponsorship visa. Wishing to get a skilled one even if I would be grateful to have the basic one and work my way up. I am not afraid to learn. I am afraid of not even trying.