New platform will help single parents during the Covid crisis in Vorarlberg

‘Single, but not alone’ will compile information about social services as well as options for networking to create a vibrant single parent community

Yesterday, the Family Association (Familienverband) of Vorarlberg State in Austria launched a new platform aimed at single parents. The platform is called ‘Alleinerziehend, aber nicht allein’ (Single but not alone) and the goal is to provide struggling single parents with all the information about supporting services they need, as well as to create a networking community, where they can seek help from other people in a similar situation.

You are not alone

The Family Association created the new platform as an extension of one of their online services – a regular Zoom meeting called ‘Talk for single parents’ (Talk für Alleinerziehende). It largely expands on the initial aims of the Zoom meeting: talking to people that have been through hardship and how they overcame it, information about available social services and general networking.

According to Andrea Moosbrugger, a member of the Advisory Board of the Family Association, the new platform does not aim to replace the Zoom meetings, rather, to expand them and offer an ongoing repository of material and potential for networking.

The aim of the Association is to give single parents the best possible support wherever they may be in life. ‘Single but not alone’ offers a detailed overview of the numerous advice centres in Vorarlberg: from family counselling centres to financial and childcare support.

Another important point for the Family Association is growing the community with networking and person to person exchanges. This is why people who use the platform can share their personal concerns via the pinboard and chat.

COVID-19 only made things worse

Much of the reasoning behind the Association’s decision to launch ‘Single, but not alone’ came down to a survey they conducted in the spring of 2021. Being a single parent can put extremely high financial and emotional demands on people and the burden falls largely on women.  

According to the survey, a majority of single parents have trouble finding their way in the new Covid situation, between pandemic guidelines, school closure, lockdowns, job loss and distanced learning. They also lack the knowledge on where to turn for financial and childcare aid.

This contributes to an unreasonably hostile atmosphere for single parents and according to Andrea Moosbrugger, the Family Association is doing precisely what it needs to under the circumstances, to try and alleviate some of the pressure.