Everything you need to know about being a single parent — and being happy

The authors of a new book want to end the isolation of being a solo mum or dad. Both have found that making a connection with others in a similar position has helped to normalise their experience 

Zoe Desmond and Rebecca Cox are co-authors of ‘How to be a Happy Single Parent’ which covers topics such as holidays and dating as a single parent.

Zoe Desmond couldn’t understand it. Statistics said one in four families was headed up by a single parent. So how come she felt like she was the only one? “If there were one in four, it meant we were everywhere, that every time I left the house I passed by a single parent.”

Feeling “very lonely, overwhelmed and unsupported” in her single-parent experience, the knowledge that there were so many one-parent families “created a fire” in London-based Desmond to set up single-parent app Frolo (a combination of ‘friend’ and ‘solo’), frolo.com. Launched in 2019, its community now numbers tens of thousands across Britain and Ireland.