Single mothers losing support
A Rockingham parent has hit out at the lack of support for single mothers.
Sue Spriggs, 46, could not continue university study when she was forced onto Newstart payment at the start of the year and had to look for work.
Miss Spriggs was not able to work on weekends or after school hours as she had to care for her nine-year-old daughter Morgan.
“Not one of the political parties has supported single mothers and we are a workforce that has not been recognised,” she said.
“Workplaces need to change their attitude towards workers and be more flexible as there are many of us who want to work but can’t do a nine-to-five job around family life.”
Miss Spriggs claimed Newstart was $200 less than her parenting payments.
“The whole system is a mess — there’s a massive divide in socioeconomic grouping,” she said.
A Open Universities Australia study published in July revealed two-thirds of students were living below the poverty line.
Miss Spriggs said she and four other students chipped in to buy and share one text book for their course.
“Some were $100 each — many of us went without food so we could afford our uni fees,” she said.
Murdoch University Rockingham campus pro vice chancellor Professor Andrew Taggart said from time-to-time students faced financial pressures and some did it really tough. “We encourage communication from students so that we can support them on their learning path to graduation, but we can only help if we know about the problems they’re facing,” he said.
Murdoch University Rockingham campus health and counselling clinical psychologist Gaynor Pettit said financial strain affected the physical and mental health of students.
“It can be a reason why some students withdraw from university studies,” she said. Student Rachel Pritchard said she found it difficult to manage financially with her studies and family.
“I’m a mother with two kids and a husband who has supported me a lot — if single mothers don’t have that support, they shouldn’t have to go without education because of it,” she said.
