By Jenny Davidson, CEO CSMC
Often, when there’s an economic or global crisis, it’s the most vulnerable in our community who pay the highest price. We saw that at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, when casual workers were losing their jobs, and further back, during the Global Financial Crisis, when single mothers were less able to supplement Centrelink payments with income from part-time or casual work, which had become scarce. Most recently, the cost-of-living crisis has meant that many low-income single mothers are simply unable to afford to support their families.
The current fuel crisis, though, is hitting differently.
An increasing number of single mother families, already stretched to the limit due to the cost-of-living crisis, are reaching breaking point. If you are already skipping meals, forgoing medication, and falling behind on the bills just to cover rent, there are simply no more spending cuts to be made to cover petrol.
Many single mothers live in outer suburbs, where the rent is cheaper, but these areas are often public transport desserts and a car isn’t a luxury, it’s the difference between getting to work and school or not.
Our Support Line workers are taking calls from single mothers who have to take a bus and two trains twice a day, just to get kids to school and daycare and then themselves to work. Picking up supplies from food banks and accessing community supports can take an entire day.
And of course, the consequences of this go well beyond not being able to provide food and clothing. It’s the emotional toll that is enormous, and long-lasting. Kids are exhausted. They’re falling behind in school and unable to socialise with friends. And their mums, already holding an unfathomable mental load, have more anxiety, fear, and guilt thrown into the mix.
I don’t even need to tell you how poverty in childhood too often sets children up for a lifetime of poor health, educational, and employment outcomes – there’s a mountain of evidence that shows this, and one of the reasons that CSMC exists.
Another way this fuel crisis is impacting single mothers is that it is no longer just low-income single mother families reaching breaking point.
Part-time and casual work is often the only employment choice for single mothers, because it allows for the flexibility we need to be able to work and raise our children. I’m talking about single mothers in the care sector, tutors, delivery drivers, and car share drivers. These are sectors that require its workers to travel by car often and sometimes over long distances. For these single mothers, it’s barely economically viable to accept shifts, when so much of their income goes straight out the door on petrol.
Given the specific and particular ways this fuel crisis is impacting single mothers, CSMC is making it a key advocacy issue. We want to amplify the voices of single mothers during this crisis, and the first step is to collect your experiences, through a short survey. Your thoughts will guide our advocacy.
If you haven’t already, I urge you to take a few minutes to share your experiences, you can get to the survey here.
The survey closes at 9am Monday 4 May 2026, so you’ve got just a few more days to participate. We know your time is valuable and we are offering a prize draw of three $50 vouchers for those who complete survey and enter their email at the end.
I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the survey and everyone who is going to once you’ve finished reading. And remember, CSMC provides support, information and referrals via our Support Line, so please, if this fuel crisis means you need support, please get in touch.
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