Commenting on the ‘In work, better off: next steps to full employment’ green paper published today by the Department for Work and Pensions, Child Poverty Action Group’s Chief Executive, Kate Green, said:
“Forcing lone parents to face benefit sanctions when their children are still at primary schools is outrageous. Taking money away from families that are already poor will worsen poverty for many children and put their health and wellbeing at risk.
“Voluntary employment programmes are repeatedly shown to be far more effective. The Government should concentrate on improving and extending high quality employment support, which at present is not able to meet demand from the majority of lone parents who want to find a good quality job that can be balanced with parenting demands. Unless employers provide more well paid, high quality jobs with family friendly hours, lone parents will simply move from out-of-work poverty to in-work poverty with children carrying the cost of less time with their parents.
“Wraparound childcare is promised, but without confirmation of the funding we cannot be confident of delivery. A government commitment to the same level of childcare investment as countries with more working lone parents, like Denmark and Sweden, would do far more to improve parents’ access to employment and help end child poverty than misguided efforts to force them into inappropriate work.
“Caution is needed in extending the role of the private and voluntary sectors to deliver services to long term claimants. If charities take on the role of policing the benefits system, the relationship of openness and trust with their clients that is a key factor in their success will be damaged, and vulnerable individuals will lose the protection of independent advocates who can stand up for their rights.”
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