Single parents are the best people to make decisions about
their family's
needs and not the government.
Commenting today on the release of the welfare reform report
in Canberra,
the National Council of Single Mothers and their Children has
welcomed the
promise of extra assistance for sole parents to take up work and
study
options, but warned that compulsory regimes would be wasteful and
sanctions
such as those applied to unemployed people could place children
at risk.
The Executive Officer, Ms Elspeth McInnes said 51% of lone
parents were in
the paid workforce, and over a 12 month period 75% would
undertake work or
study. The government's own research found that 22% of lone
parents had
multiple barriers to work, including disabilities and health
problems. This
meant everybody who could work was working.
"There is no need to force lone parents to work, just
a need to provide
jobs, education and skills access and the necessary
infrastructure of
housing transport and child care. The average duration
of reliance on
benefit is only three and a half years.We are concerned that a
lot of
money will be spent policing and breaching people who just
want to do the best
they can to help themselves and their families."
Children don't stop needing parents around when they are
teenagers and
single mothers are still going to have to look after sick
children, and
look after their family first when there are issues such as
family violence or
court proceedings, said Ms McInnes.
"We have been promised that the government won't
reduce payments, that the
government will increase resources to assist people and that
sanctions
should be a last resort. These are good promises but we
have to wait and
see what the government actually does."
ENDS
Further Comment
Kay Buckley: 0409 697 343