March signals spring and celebrations of woman kind in modern societies, it started with International Women’s Day and then Mothering Sunday.

In fact the whole month of March carries a theme of celebration and honouring women around the world. we rejoice in our womanhood and sisterhood, while cherishing the notion of maternal bond!

While I was presenting single roses to hard working women of our community and busy receiving flowers from my own children, for being a mother to them, I received an unusual call from a single mother. I didn’t feel a sense of celebration in her voice at all, she was rather worried and stressed. She told me that as a single mum she can only work 16 hours a week, due to the childcare responsibilities, she is on a minimum wage at present. She told me she can only do certain low paid jobs as she belongs to the South Asian minority group with English language difficulties and had to take any job, where very basic English language skills are needed. with her £104 a week job, life is more than tough for her and her son.

She asked if there is anyone who she can speak to, about her financial difficulties and get help.

It is a well known fact that for single mothers the worry about how they are going to cope financially can be overwhelming. Single mothers often experience the stress of the financial hardship and that can have an adverse impact on the lives of their children. These women can suffer poor health and are at risk of developing mental health issues. Their children face a very uncertain future and the quality of life is below average, while they are constantly busy making sacrifices in their already poor living standards.

This made me think about the idea of Mother’s Day and whether we can do more to support women in situations like that of my caller every day.