Research into experiences of lone parents in rural Fife conducted in partnership with Fife Gingerbread. Volunteers from the Fife Gingerbread Buddy programme with experience of lone parenthood were trained as peer researchers and were involved in all stages of the research project, the design, fieldwork and analysis.
The research sought to explore and understand lone parent’s quality of life within rural communities of Fife.
The research objectives were to:
• Provide an understanding of how quality of life is conceptualised and experienced in rural areas.
• Understand the experience of living on a low income in rural areas.
• Provide evidence on the resilience of lone parents and their efforts to achieve an acceptable quality of life.
• Identify policy recommendations that could address poverty in rural areas.
It provides a critical picture of lone parent families’ experiences of poverty and the barriers to achieving an effective quality of life within the current economic climate.