Lone parents told to prepare for work when child is three
Katy Morton
Monday, June 25, 2012
Encouraging lone parents not in employment to prepare for work when their child turns three years old is just one measure being considered by the Government as part of a larger debate on welfare reform.
In a speech delivered today (25 June) on how to radically reform welfare, Prime Minister David Cameron suggested that the country’s 580,000 lone parents on out-of-work income support could do more to prepare for work by using the 15 hours free childcare to write their CV or visit the job centre.
Mr Cameron said that Government had already changed the requirement for lone parents to look for work from when their youngest child is seven years old to when they turn five.
The Prime Minister said that he wants to ‘end the nonsense’ of paying people more to stay at home than to get a job, and to make sure that work pays in order to bridge what he called the ‘real welfare gap’ in this country.
He called for a national debate into working-age welfare, considering who should receive benefits, the limits of state provision and the contribution we should expect from those on benefits.
Mr Cameron said an area that needed looking at is the interaction of the benefit system with the choices people make about having a family.
He gave the example of a single parent living outside London with four children and renting a house on housing benefit, who he said could claim almost £25,000 a year, more than the average take-home pay of a farm worker and nursery nurse put together.
He said, ‘For most in work when they have a child their income will change very little, but for many on out-of–work benefits, their income will change substantially. This is a fundamental difference and it’s not a marginal point.’
According to Government figures, more than 150,000 people claiming income support for over a year have three or more children and 57,000 have four or more. One in six children lives in a workless household - one of the highest rates in Europe.
Mr Cameron raised the issue of why previous Governments have encouraged working-age people to have children and not work, when he said they should be enabling them to work and have children.
Another issue that the Prime Minister said needed to be debated was housing benefit, in particular for the under 25s, who receive almost £2 billion a year in state hand-outs.
He hinted at introducing tougher requirements for housing benefit to create a more level playing field where families on benefits are not financially helped to live exactly where they want to.
Mr Cameron said that Government had already changed the requirement for lone parents to look for work from when their youngest child is seven years old to when they turn five.
The Prime Minister said that he wants to ‘end the nonsense’ of paying people more to stay at home than to get a job, and to make sure that work pays in order to bridge what he called the ‘real welfare gap’ in this country.
He called for a national debate into working-age welfare, considering who should receive benefits, the limits of state provision and the contribution we should expect from those on benefits.
Mr Cameron said an area that needed looking at is the interaction of the benefit system with the choices people make about having a family.
He gave the example of a single parent living outside London with four children and renting a house on housing benefit, who he said could claim almost £25,000 a year, more than the average take-home pay of a farm worker and nursery nurse put together.
He said, ‘For most in work when they have a child their income will change very little, but for many on out-of–work benefits, their income will change substantially. This is a fundamental difference and it’s not a marginal point.’
According to Government figures, more than 150,000 people claiming income support for over a year have three or more children and 57,000 have four or more. One in six children lives in a workless household - one of the highest rates in Europe.
Mr Cameron raised the issue of why previous Governments have encouraged working-age people to have children and not work, when he said they should be enabling them to work and have children.
Another issue that the Prime Minister said needed to be debated was housing benefit, in particular for the under 25s, who receive almost £2 billion a year in state hand-outs.
He hinted at introducing tougher requirements for housing benefit to create a more level playing field where families on benefits are not financially helped to live exactly where they want to.
