Freedom for Children to Grow

DWP Consultation: In Work, Better Off

This Consultation Ends On October 31st

One Parent Families/Gingerbread

We can find some useful background information and statistics in the OPF response to the Government's David Freud review 'Reducing dependency, increasing opportunity: options for the future of welfare to work' (22 pages) published in April 2007.

Here is a summary of some of the points included in the response to the Freud Report:

1. A universal requirement to search for work is inappropriate, "expensive, unfair and ineffectual. "
2. A key factor in the increase in lone parent employment has been the introduction of tax credits. This leads to more sustained employment than for example the voluntary New Deal for Lone Parents where nearly a third of participants who gained employment via the scheme were back on benefits within a year.
3. The OPF report quotes research from other countries where a similar welfare to work programme was attempted.
4. We may or may not want to use the general statistics about the characteristics of unemployed lone parents of older children ( p.5 lack of qualifications etc ) but there are some very relevant points about lone parents of disabled children. OPF quotes one parent :

   "I am frightened about what will happen when they bring in the new rules for single parents on income support. I really cannot work and that will not have changed by the time my children are 12. I explained things at a work focused interview last year and they agreed I had no time for a job. All 3 of my children get middle care rate DLA and 2 of them get lower rate mobility DLA as well."

5. OPF also makes the following point :

   " Many parents also feel that their child's teenage years are particularly important in terms of their parenting responsibilities; and recent Government focus on anti- social behaviour may have helped to re-enforce this message. The Respect Action Plan for example notes "Factors such as poor parenting, lack of supervision, family conflicts and a poor relationship between parents and their children can all increase the chances of a child behaving anti-socially later in life". " ( p.6)

Pages 11-14 set out the main difference between the terms and conditions of Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance.

OPF summarises the differences as follows:

1. The main differences in the regimes are the frequency of interviews, the requirement to be available for work and to take steps towards securing employment and the nature of the sanctioning regime, which would impact heavily on the children.
2. Jobseekers have to be available for work of at least 16 hours and exemptions would have to be put in place for lone parents who cannot fulfil this requirement. (OPF cites the instance of lone parents of disabled children)
3. The difficulty for some lone parents with caring responsibilities in attending training courses and full-time work experience.
4. The cost of implementing the JSA regime in comparison with the Income Support system : admin, paperwork, adviser time spent ensuring compliance etc. A recent Parliamentary Answer suggested that the extra cost would be between £6 million and £10 million.
5. The jobs are not sustainable. Over half of Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) claims are now from repeat claimants, ie people who found work while on JSA then become unemployed again. Nearly a third of participants in the voluntary New Deal for Lone Parents who find jobs, then return to claim Jobseeker's Allowance within a year.

Food for Thought: Home Education for Teenagers In the News The DCSF thinks school is the best place for children. Here at Education Otherwise Campaign Website, we beg to differ Iris Harrison's HE Diary Press Enquiries

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