Commenting on the publication today by the Department for Work and Pensions of ‘Ready for Work: full employment in our generation’ which includes major reforms for benefits for lone parents, Kate Green, Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said:
“These plans are detached from reality, based on a fantasy of childcare that does not exist, family friendly employers that are not there and bureaucratic discretion instead of the traditional safety net.
“We believe the proposals will worsen child poverty by taking lifeline benefits away from thousands of poor families. The safety net will be gone, with family security and children’s wellbeing at the mercy of bureaucratic discretion by individual Jobcentre Plus staff.
“Campaigners have provided the Government with a robust set of evidence-based alternative proposals to increase the number of lone parents able to access good quality family friendly work. They have not listened and are heading towards serious problems.
“A vital request made to the Department during the consultation was that they clearly set out in their response how they have met departmental obligations to child poverty proof new proposals. They have not done this.
“The current obligations on lone parents are already failing, with high numbers of New Deal for Lone Parents participants being sanctioned for not attending repeat interviews, which parents say are humiliating and a waste of time. The Government admits it does not understand why this problem has grown so big, yet is still racing ahead with radical reforms to put much more stringent obligations on lone parents.”
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