Fight for survival

Automatically saved draft

Around a third of female single-parent households can barely make ends meet, there is hardly any help available(Bild: gelmold - stock.adobe.com)

The latest statistics paint a sad picture of domestic households - one in three single mothers is struggling to survive financially.

Don't have children with an idiot and take care of your own retirement provision - that's probably the best advice for young women today. If you look at the latest figures from Statistics Austria, the high number of single mothers who are now struggling to make ends meet with their household income is particularly striking.

Bettina S. is supported by Caritas with food and clothing.(Bild: Josef Poyer)

The "depression carousel" of part-time work, lack of childcare and unpaid child, sick or elderly care is not even mentioned. Caritas is therefore sounding the alarm and once again calling on the German government to promote real equality and combat female poverty: "We need equality between men and women now. The recognition of care work - be it for children or the elderly - must finally be acknowledged and fairly distributed," says President Nora Tödtling-Musenbichler.

The current situation is disastrous for those affected by coronavirus, the war in Ukraine and inflation. Bettina S. (60) from Vienna-Favoriten explains: "I was a janitor and then also a cleaner at ÖBB. I can just about make ends meet with my small disability pension. Caritas provides me with food donations and cheap clothes."