Parenting Skills

How to cope with a loss of income as parent

When you have to provide for your family, losing the means to do so can be obviously difficult for any number of reasons. A lot of the time, the loss of income is completely unexpected – such as a sudden termination of your employment – which gives you little to no time to prepare any contingency plan. It helps to have options when it comes to something like this, and that can help to stave off the feelings of desperation or panic that can come with this situation.

Even if you’re currently not in that situation, it can help to add a great deal of comfort knowing that you have plans should the worst happen.

family dealing with loss of income but cheering up while posing for mums magazine

The Right Insurance

The answers that might immediately come to you when you think of a contingency plan in this situation, could be having a new job in the pipeline (which can be difficult to quickly prepare) or some insurance that could be useful. Certain providers, such as Future Proof Insurance, might aim to particularly cater to those in your situation, where solution to uncertainty can come in the form of some security.

This can help you to deal with other problems that a lack of income might lead to – such as concerns about food, or heating during the winter months, assuring you that your life can continue along some sense of normalcy until a replacement for your source of income is found.

 

Coping with Stress

The stress that comes with this situation, however, might be one of the more difficult aspects to deal with. Not only do you have to continue to navigate the problem while under this stress, but the actual toll that this can all have on your mental health might be more damaging than you expected. As difficult as it might be, it’s important that you still find ways to find relief and solace during this time. While this might simply mean doing the things that you enjoy or find relaxing, (as difficult as that might be right now), it could also mean referring to professionals such as the NHS in order to find more direct ways of dealing with your stress. This could help get you through the rough patch and ensure it does not have a long lasting impact on your health.

 

Support Networks

When something like this happens to you, it can feel as though you have to deal with it all yourself. Everyone has their own problems, right? That might be true, but the importance of support networks can’t be understated here, and while that might not mean that you expect other people to help offload major amounts of the burden, being able to talk to people or have people help in small ways when you need them to can help to let you breathe.

It might surprise you how much help with these little things can help you in the greater sense, even if it’s just someone helping to look after your family while you have a job interview or something similar, it can help you to find the opportunities you need.

About author

Articles

Monica Costa founded London Mums in September 2006 after her son Diego’s birth together with a group of mothers who felt the need of meeting up regularly to share the challenges and joys of motherhood in metropolitan and multicultural London. London Mums is the FREE and independent peer support group for mums and mumpreneurs based in London https://new.londonmumsmagazine.com and you can connect on Twitter @londonmums
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