Single parents head nine per cent of Maltese households.

A conference entitled ‘Single parenthood in Malta: Key findings from two research studies’ will be held on Friday from 9am to 3pm at the Aula Magna of the University’s Valletta Campus. It is being organised by the Department of Family Studies at the University’s Faculty for Social Wellbeing in collaboration with Ministry for the Family and Social Solidarity.

According to the latest census conducted in Malta, in 2011 there were 10,631 single parents heading a family with at least one child under 18. This constitutes nine per cent of households with two or more people.

During the conference, the results of two studies that were commissioned by the ministry and carried out by the department will be presented.

In the first study, entitled ‘Improving the quality of life of lone parents in Malta’, a team of researchers surveyed the entire population of single parents whose youngest child is three to build a more comprehensive picture of single-parent families, including their particular formation, sources of support, aspirations and barriers to work.

The research team, composed of Angela Abela, Frank Bezzina, Claire Casha and Rose Marie Azzopardi, will also highlight the implications for policy and practice borne out of the research.

The second presentation, entitled ‘Pathways to Single Parenthood’ will comprise a systematic review of international studies to establish the determinants likely to lead to different types of single parenthood, the implications for policy and practice, and applications in the local context.

The researchers included Paul Montgomery from Oxford University’s Centre for Evidence-Based Policy. The other members of the team were Abela, Bezzina, Casha, Rita Borg Xuereb and Katya DeGiovanni.

The public is invited to attend. For details and to book a seat, visit the website below.

www.um.edu.mt/socialwellbeing/familystudies/events/conference2015