All the single entrepreneurs - put your hands up

Sian writes:

Calling all single parents who have ever considered working for themselves!

I am conducting PhD research into the opportunities and obstacles around self-employment or microenterprise for single parents. Single parents are statistically more likely than partnered parents or those without children to be unemployed or on very low pay and tackling this is essential for reducing child poverty. Understanding what supports or hinders a single parent to run their own micro business is the key to creating policies and infrastructure that will help more people become independent.

I am looking for any single parent who might be interested in or already is selling their time/goods/services in any way and would be happy to talk about it in one of three ways:

- be interviewed ( 2 x 1.5 hours over a year)
- take part in a group discussion (2 hours)
- keep a diary of their experience (weekly diary keeping for between 6 - 12 months).

All the research will be anonymised and all names etc will be kept confidential. People might be:

- already running their own small business - which could be anything from childminding to dog-walking to being an accountant;
- trying it out as an idea alongside working/not working;
- like the idea but not have done anything about it yet;
- have tried but found it didn't work - those stories will have real impact.

If you think you know anyone who might be interested in taking part I would be really grateful if you could either share this request with them or ask them to contact me at sianwilliams41@hotmail.co.uk. I can also contact them if they would be happy for you to pass their details on.