Am Schauplatz: Alltag am Limit [4.12.2025]

►§~All rights belong to ORF and/or the producing companies, individuals, and their performers!~§◄ In the "Am Schauplatz" report "Everyday Life on the Edge," Nicole Kampl documents the daily lives of single mothers in Austria under constant pressure and shows how they manage to make ends meet. The report airs on Thursday, December 4, 2025, at 9:05 p.m. on ORF 2 and ORF ON. One in five families in Austria consists of only one parent and therefore has only one household income. Single parents are particularly at risk of poverty and struggle with the daily onslaught. "When only one person is holding everything together, it's difficult," says Violetta. She lives with her four children in southern Burgenland; two of her sons are autistic. This means a packed schedule: kindergarten, school, therapies, soccer practice, housework, transportation, etc. "If I collapse, everything collapses," says Violetta. ... In Salzburg, Silke is burned out after eight years of raising four children alone. Although she works, she wouldn't be able to make ends meet without social assistance. "These days, you practically need two full-time earners to make ends meet. And I don't have a second one," she says. To save money, she buys all her basic groceries across the border in Freilassing. The problems began right after the separation with the search for an apartment: In Burgenland, Alexandra, as a single mother after the divorce, couldn't get a loan to stay in the family home with her children. In Vienna, Claudia applied to 130 housing projects and only found an apartment through the JUNO association. JUNO works with non-profit housing developers to create affordable apartments with suitable floor plans for single parents.