Soul Providers: (Writings by Single Parents). Edited by Gil McNeil. Published by Virago. Reviewed by Sue Woodford. The timely publication of Soul Providers comes as both rumours and suggested plans by the present government are being taken up bv the media.
The possible cessation or reduction of child benefit for single parents after the first child is an example. Another is the loss of prioritised access to low cost local authority housing for single parents.
The status of the single parent, never high in a culture which prefers to see itself as made up of predominantly nuclear families, has slid further into disrepute. The Conservative government is seeking ideological scape-goats to blame for its gradual clawback of funds from important social infrastructures.
By using the writings of the parents themselves this book does indeed go beyond statistics and allows the reader to journey through the various lives of a group of such parents and share the experience of both their achievements as well as their pain.
Its editor, Gil McNeil, wishes it to be la celebration of skills, dedication, resourcefulness and sheer hard work... :. For me, reading Soul Providers was a very moving and uplifting experience.
A single parent myself, I kept recognising small fragments of other people's stories that I also had known, an incident here, a similar feeling there.
Unfortunately I was already convinced of what most of the book is trying to say in order to carry out its task of debunking myths about single parents. Somehow it will have to reach out to those tabloid reading, myth accepting 'others' out there.
The point that this book fails to address, however, is the one which is most commonly mentioned by the single parent contributors, namely poverty.
If, as is pointed out in the introduction, single parent families on the same level of income compare well with nuclear families, then all those families experiencing deprivation through poverty suffer.
As a single parent who has experienced this poverty I can assure you it is nothing to celebrate. By focusing on the individual or individual family unit, the possibility of cooperative support, planning and responsibility by society for all children is lost.
Several of the contributors comment on possible alternatives in society or in extended cooperative groupings but there is no attempt to draw out any analysis from these signposts. Ultimately I was left with my glow of linked companionship, my poverty and a metaphorical pat on the back.
Only by radically changing society's allocation of resources can parents and children get what they need to make parenting a real success. That requires a revolutionary change for everyone.
Sequel perhaps, Virago?
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK No. 60, April 16 1994, Page 14