In 2015, Olivia Barreau became a single-parent head of household. “My children were very young, and I realized the immense difficulties that could fall upon you without being able to anticipate anything,” she recounts. “Whether it’s isolation, economic difficulties, loss of autonomy, personal growth, always running after time, and of course, feeling guilty for not being the best parent you wish to be for your children, and exhausting yourself to become that.”
The lack of support, keys, tools, methods, and indeed “refuge” places pushed Olivia Barreau to create the association Moi et mes enfants. Initially, it started as a Facebook page to gather for workshops, picnics, or trips, to share costs and logistics, so that parents and children would not be alone and could exchange with their peers about their difficulties.
Then, starting in 2021, Moi et mes enfants opened its first welcome spaces, which are living spaces where families can come with or without their children. “You don’t have to choose between taking time for yourself, training, meeting other people, attending an osteopathy workshop, a financial management workshop, legal advice, administrative help, and taking care of your children,” explains Olivia Barreau. Since a nursery can accommodate the very young and adapted spaces are provided for older children up to 12 years old, where they can play independently or participate in workshops led by facilitators or volunteers.
Today, one in four families in France is a single-parent family. “We are in a transformation of society,” explains Olivia Barreau. “We cannot ignore the evolution of family models.”
Thus, the association carries out advocacy work. It aims to evolve public policies regarding the tax exemption of alimony, the recovery of unpaid alimony, which has led to concrete advancements for families.
At the forefront is the creation of a “single-parent family” status that would allow access to aids, services, and provisions on par with large families.
The goal is to replicate these models of third places in other territories, outside Île-de-France, and to be present throughout mainland France within three years.
