A thread on what the government should do to help single people
Happy Thursday!
I have been really inspired by the campaign that Pregnant Then Screwed have run to get the childcare crisis in the UK onto the political agenda. For those in other countries, childcare ended up forming the most important part of our chancellor’s Spring Budget yesterday. Back when Joeli Brearley first started the campaign nobody wanted to know.
There have been a few conversations in the Facebook group about potentially launching a campaign around issues affecting single people. With a general election potentially looming in this country, I thought it would be a good time to think about what we’d like to see on the party manifestos. I would love to hear what you would love for the government – wherever you are in the world – to do to support single people? What policy change would make the most difference to you? What could we say to help convince elected officials that they should care about people who are single?
Scroll down to join in the conversation. I’ll be dipping in throughout the evening and tomorrow. Feel free to pop in some questions too if you have any!
I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts in the discussion thread below.
Have a good day,
Nicola
Twitter: @Nicola_Slawson | Instagram: @Nicola_Slawson
P.S This was meant to go out last week but I haven’t been very well and also had a huge deadline. Then I changed my mind about the topic. Another newsletter will be going out on Sunday!
Non-fiction of the week
I’m reading this great book by comedian Rosie Wilby at the moment. I haven’t been through a romantic heartbreak for a long time but I have learned so much already which has helped me understand past heartbreaks and also other kinds of heartbreaks such as friendship ones. It came out in paperback earlier this year. Grab your copy here. Let me know what you think.
Anything and everything that removes the singles "tax". The govt can't affect our love lives. But they can treat us as whole individuals and not penalise us for it. GIMME MY MONEY!!
1. Taxation.
Either discount for solo (akin to council) or remove couples allowances. Either I count as 1 or not. I'm not 1/2 a person sometimes and 1.5 others.
2. Outlaw single supplements charges across any business / service.
Govt can do this in some areas. Biz will likely hide it somewhere but worth a go. Again, either I'm a 1 or not.
3. Replace "couple" for "pair" in memberships and the like.
More and more memberships have no physical elements that require a solo address. And sharing a name / house / marriage certificate doesn't affect what the service provision is (eg. A couple's gym membership doesn't mean we have to go at the same time). So make them be open to "pair" whatever that means for a person. Your neighbour. Your colleague. Your friend. Your therapist. Whatever. Pair. Not couple. If we are doing this +1 is better, then *any* is valid.
4. Language.
It matters. Stop saying families. Say households. There's too many solo households and growing to keep saying families.
5. Employment benefits.
If any are offered for family /coupledom, they must be for solos. What's my mat leave equivalent? Allowing for the usual (role / biz needs etc), I should be able to take x months off to "birth" whatever I like. Pregnancy is a choice. So is self improvement.
So much! We’re forgotten people. More tax breaks for single households, especially single parents. Eg. Better council tax discount; more generous personal tax allowances as you end up paying more tax than a couple who have the same income while having similar fixed outgoings.
More around public safety, as a women living by myself i often fear going out by myself after dark / people not knowing where I am unless I share my location.
Would love to hear ideas about housing - in the past I’ve been stuck in flatshares as not able to afford somewhere for myself.
More generous pension allowances as we may find it harder to rely on children when we’re retired. I know they’ve just raised the maximum amount, but would be nice to have benefits for those of us that aren’t touching these limits (harder with extra single costs!)