Got a question about income support changes for lone parents?

Chrisgandme

While I can appreciate changes are needed.

Forcing Lone parents into work for many will be with inadequate childcare possabilities. If they had decent/adequate and Affordable to the lone parent many would work already. Lone parents already struggle to manage their children on a very low income...if not on below the poverty line. ?? How many kids are there living in povety already ??

SO - will you be introducing more Police and Child Abuse support as this will generate the next generation of 'LATCH KEY' kids but at a much younger age than the teenagers of the previous generation...

What is the legal age a child/sibling can be left with a yourger child while the parent goes to work....

FBaby

riaian wrote: »

having been on income support i got a job whilst my son was at school, aged 10 - i had no money throughout the holidays due to no child minders in the area who would look after a 10 yr old - income support took the whole 6 weeks of the summer hols to sort out my money and therefore i got behind on my rent - nearly being evicted phone was cut off gas and electric ran out as on a meter was the worst time ever - still no child minders in this area to take 10yr olds and the advice given was to send my child to a holiday club at approximately £50 - £100 per week - on basic wage i couldnt afford this so how is this going to work for other genuine single parents who have no savings are on a low income and have no family to rely on during school holidays .

WTC IS to contribute towards childcare. You are supposed to work out how much childcare would cost over the 52 weeks, ie. including the cost of all the holidays, so unless you are over the threshold, you would have received credits to pay for the £100 a week holiday club.

The government IS doing A LOT to help single mums to go back to work, but in the end, there are always excuses why they are not doing enough.

As for the old fashion view of women place at home and tearaway children being neglected because of women working, well, I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion, that that is as far to mine as can be!

AsknAnswer2

Speaking as a lone parent who works full time, and is fully aware of the barriers to work, I'd like to ask what the government plans to do to address the biggest barrier of all for single parents seeking to enter the workforce - childcare.

There is not an abundance of childcare - if anything, the volume of childcare providers are decreasing, mainly owing to the ever increasing paperwork placed upon them by the regulators. Most childcare which is available is only available between the hours of 8 and 6 Monday to Friday. Very few childcare providers work out with these hours. So realistically in the grand scheme of things the majority of lone parents, taking into account travelling time to and from work could only work 9-5 Monday to Friday. There are only so many jobs which offer these hours and even fewer childcare places available. There is very little to accomodate evening or weekend work.

The previous government recognised the lack of childcare available and Ed Balls made a promise that by September 2010, all schools would have wrap around childcare in the form of breakfast clubs and after school clubs and holiday play schemes, to alleviate some of boundaries to work which the changes to Income Support would present.

Guess what? Didn't happen. It's almost November and all schools do not have the attached wrap around care which was promised and those that do have it are often open hours which are little use in any case. Our one is open from 8:30 - 9:00 (fat lot of good to me - I need to be at work by 8:30) and from 3pm to 5pm (again, fat lot of use to me - I don't finish work till 5pm). Closed during non term time. Again - fat lot of use to me. It doesn't even accomodate a parent working normal office hours.

I have to find alternate care if my childminder is sick/on holiday and I can't secure time off work. Last time I simply couldn't get anyone. I had to take unauthorised leave from work and faced a disciplinary over it - even though my employers were perfectly aware I had no other choice and knew I had exhausted all avenues. My children are too young to be left home alone and one is disabled so it's a no-no.

If a parent, who is already engaged in full time work office hours struggles to find a replacement childminder for holiday cover, it's going to be a tough feat for someone who cannot get office hours and has to find long term childcare.

• What are the present government planning to do to address these issues, to enable single parents to work?

• And while I am at it, with tax credit which helps toward childcare costs I had to wait three months to get an award from applying for it. How is a parent who has been living on benefit going to afford childcare costs in the interim whilst they await an award? Particularly as they are looking at cutting the very public sector staff who process these applications - it appears people in the position of applying for assistance with childcare may be in for a longer wait than the three months that I had. Is the government aware that most childcare providers require paying in advance, and can and do terminate contracts for overdue payment? Are there any plans to introduce advanced payments direct to childcare providers for this purpose? Are there any plans to address the issue at all?

I support single parents working - I am one of them and have worked since my children were babies. But in order for it to work effectively in the masses, other areas of government which are currently a barrier to lone parents working, need to be seriously considered.

Thank you.

Indie_Kid

WAKEUPANDJOINTHEDOTS wrote: »

2. what about single parents who choose to home educate their children, they are still expected to go out and work? how does this make any sense?. every child at school has an allocated budget for them one way or another paid for by the government, yet home educators are given nothing. and are ordered to go and find full time work.

You choose to home educate. Why should you be exempt from having to work for your benefits?

SingleSue

FBaby wrote: »

why do single parents think they are the only one struggling with childcare and should have 'priority' for school hours jobs? two parents household where both parents work full-time have the same issues. Should all mothers get benefits on the basis that they can't work because they can't get a job between 9 and 3?

As for saying that single parent struggle to get a job between 9 and 5 because they are more likely to be looking for entry jobs, that's another matter in itself. When did parents stop educating their children that they should build their career before thinking of having children? Finding an entry job is always going to be difficult, but the longer you are out of work and get older, the harder it will always be. This is exactly why I think single parent should indeed be encouraged to go back to work as soon as possible rather than encouraging them to stay home for many years.

On the contrary, I found it easier to work when married....hubby worked during the day and I did the child care and I worked in the evening and he did the childcare. My employment was not an entry level job or shelf stacking/cleaning, it was working in a corporate enviroment where they were trialling extending the working day by having an evening shift. It worked so well that it is still going today (10 years later).

I also did extra hours during the day as and when the boys appointments allowed.

At least with two parents present, you can work around each other to cover childcare, with only one parent, that is not possible.

WaspishQueenB

Bravo for lowering the youngest age of the children of IS claimants, but why are you penalising working lone parents by reducing the childcare element of the Working Families Tax Credits from 80 to 70% (obviously, making the childcare more expensive) and imposing a draconian measure of enforcing the parent to work 24 hours (up from 16) per week. Lone parents have approximately half the income, yet still have to pay the "going-rate".

What measures are you introducing to alleviate these new financial burdens to lone parents trying to escape the poverty trap through their own efforts?

As a lone parent undergraduate with a 2-year old son, this does not affect me immediately, but should I find myself unemployed after qualifying; will cause me a great deal of concern (coupled with being saddled with enormous student loan debt).

Replying to "Still Brassic", I am rather aggrieved by the comment "children of single parents attend nurseries (paid for by the State) from the age of 2": grant funding covers 85% of the fees, or there are trial schemes available for 10 hours funding, but there is no such thing as 100% funding. Quite obviously, the 10 hours doesn't cover the Government-set requisite.

I would like to assert that although I'm a student, I have no beer allowance, neither smoke, and my nipper and I have not been on holiday for over 3 years. <Cue violins...> I go to the cinema once a year for my birthday (no other nights out). I have cut expenditure to the bare minimum and do not see how else to economise; perhaps the MP can suggest alternatives?!!

dmg24

WaspishQueenB wrote: »

What measures are you introducing to alleviate these new financial burdens to lone parents trying to escape the poverty trap through their own efforts?

Your question is extremely fluffy, and as such will attract a fluff/ spin answer. Having said that, well done on actually responding to the OP (you are the only person that has), and welcome to MSE.

amcraig

So, I'm a working single mum. I'm a chartered engineer and currently work part time. Luckily I kept on working after I had my 2 children which was a life saver when my husband (of 10 years) decided to up and leave me and my 2 very young children for his PA. I would just like to point out that I am the stereotypical single mum - I planned my children and until their father decided he was "unhappy" I did not need state support to raise them. My daughter has recently started school and finding wraparound childcare has proven to be impossible. All childminders in the village are full and the after school club has a long waiting list. My daughter has been on the waiting list for 3 years now and we still do not have a place. I guess my questions are:

1) Childcare - how many more wraparound childcare places will be put in place to enable single parents to go back to work? Will some be given priority places if they have no-one else to help with childcare? What help will be given with deposits and paying fees in advance?

2) What measures will be put in place to stop the job centre hassling vulnerable parents? I'm thinking of those people who's partners leave around the time when their children hit 5 and they'll be expected to be looking for work. When my husband left I had to cope with sorting out all the financial stuff, my distressed children, benefits etc etc. I ended up depressed and quite frankly was completely unemployable. If I'd had to sign on and look for work as well that might have sent me over the edge.

3) Maintenance - why do non-resident parents paying maintenance to their families get to reduce maintenance payments when they choose to have another family? If I got more maintenance it would help with just about everything in my life - including work.

4) What will actually happen if a single parent is deemed to not be looking for work? Will JSA be stopped and if so what happens to the children in the household? Do they starve?

5) What practical support will actually be given to single parents to get them back into work? Actual practical help not just a overworked lone parent advisor in the job centre who can tell you about benefits.

6) What is going to suddenly make employers start offering more flexible working arrangements in areas not traditionally seen as female? My experience is that if you are job hunting and you mention "part time" you can forget it.

On the whole I agree that working has more pros than cons in my life and I am financially better off. However, I do have some sympathy with the view that being a mother to your children and looking after them full time is a benefit to society and as such should be subsidised (perhaps the current age of 7 is about right).

Alison

flight747

Got to ask you a question MP: Have you ever experience of upbring as a lone parent yourself and expect you to go to work when your child is 5 soon, can you do it ? My answer is: no, no, NO, NO, NO, I shall say it louder NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ! AND GROW UP GOVERNMENT, YOU ARE DOING THIS BECAUSE OF SOME SINGLE MOTHER ARE STUPID TO GET 7, 8 or 9 KIDS with different FATHERS and staying on benefits. But some lone parent with a single child SHOULDN'T FORCE BACK TO WORK!!!!

GROW UP WILL YOU MP! You are making me very very very ANGRY !!!!

Loopy_Girl

WaspishQueenB wrote: »

and imposing a draconian measure of enforcing the parent to work 24 hours (up from 16) per week.

Ummm...that 'draconian measure' is for couples only. There is no change to the 16 hour rule for lone parents.