French city introduces rights for single-parent families

Last month, the municipality of Ris-Orangis in Essonne implemented 21 specific rights for the benefit of single-parent families. An initiative praised for these solo parents who are often in vulnerable situations. When one mentions «single-parent family», the collective imagination immediately thinks of a young mother with a baby. However, this image is far from reality. According to Insee, the share of single-parent families was 23% in 2023, compared to 12% in 1990. Moreover, 41% of minor children living in single-parent families live below the monetary poverty line (2018).

Faced with this sad reality, the commune of Ris-Orangis has taken the initiative and created a specific status for isolated parents, granting them 21 specific and exclusive rights. These will help the 1707 single-parent families in the city, a third of whom are below the poverty line. The officials sent a clear message: «Single moms and dads, you are no longer alone». Among these rights, single-parent families benefit from additional points for the criteria of nursery placement allocation. The health journey will also be simplified and facilitated. Furthermore, various financial benefits, such as discounts for cultural activities like cinema or swimming pool entry, will be available thanks to a «single-parent family» card, which will soon be created with the support of Grand Paris Sud.

Ris-Orangis also wants to encourage the right to respite and should quickly develop a space allowing solo parents to take a break. «We also wanted to highlight the right to respite. By allowing solo parents to participate in sewing, drawing, and dance workshops. While their children would also be doing activities with children of their age.», explains the mayor (PS) Stéphane Rafalli. Other initiatives include excluding the amount of child support from the calculation of the family quotient for school meal costs, as well as the creation of a building with 40 apartments specially intended for single parents, which should be implemented soon.