Introduction

There are many different routes into becoming a lone parent – having a baby on your own, splitting up with a partner, husband or wife, becoming a widow or widower – but the one thing you are likely to have in common is having to care for your family on a very limited amount of money.

Whether your income has suddenly dropped or you are used to struggling to make ends meet, this booklet is for you. We have lots of information and advice about dealing with debt and other money worries as well as ideas and tips about how you can manage your money better and plan for the future. As a lone parent, it’s hard to cope with everything on your own and in some situations you should definitely get specialist advice.

At the end of this guide you will find a list of useful organisations – most importantly those that give free, independent and expert advice about dealing with money problems and emergencies. If you don’t know your AER from APR don’t worry!

To help make this guide easier to use we’ve added a financial jargon buster so that you don’t need to be an expert to know you’re way around money.