Since quitting her public service job to start her own beauty salon from home three-years-ago, Jess Leonard has been able to spend more time with her children.
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The single mother said leaving behind her nine-to-five job for more flexible hours had been beneficial for her to look after her three sons, aged 4, 5 and 7.
"Having three kids at home, I wanted to work around them and be home with them after school hours," she said.
"If I was still in public service, I'd only be spending about an hour with them after school, and it's not enough for three boys who don't have any other parent around."
Despite being able to work from home six days a week, Ms Leonard said there was still a large amount of pressure as the sole income earner in the family.
She said it was a struggle shared by many single parents.
"Many are absolutely exhausted trying to financially support their children while also having to work and help out with school work," Ms Leonard said.
While the Harrison resident has been able to find a steady source of income, new figures from the Bureau of Statistics show many single parents struggle to make ends meet.
The recently-released figures showed one in three single parents were unemployed, making up 206,300 families.
The figures also showed that 90 per cent of unemployed single parents had children under 15.
However, unemployment levels for single parents are on the decline, with 36 per cent without a job in 2014.
Chief executive of the National Council of Single Mothers and their Children, Therese Edwards, said the high level of unemployment among single parents was evidence of the many barriers preventing them getting into the workplace.
"A lot of the issues come from when work is available to single parents, which is either in the evening or on weekends," she said.
"A lot of industries work out of business hours and parents would have to look at matching childcare arrangements.
"The workforce rate is low because you have a really competitive job market and single parents are prioritising their children."
Mrs Edwards said the situation was made more difficult for single parents once their children turned eight, being forced onto the Newstart allowance of a maximum of $570.80 a fortnight.
"One thing that I object to is the belief that single-parent families who are struggling financially are quite happy to maintain that status quo," she said.
"Those parents want nothing more than to remove the barrier of living in financial stress."
Ms Leonard said a perception still existed of parents who were financially stable looking down on those struggling to find work.
She said that despite working long hours to support her family, spending time with her children was the most important thing.
"When you have three children running around it can be difficult, but my boys are my main priority and being able to be with them and put a roof over their heads."