Gingerbread fears lone parents will struggle to find part-time jobs Unemployed single parents are being “set up to fail” by changes compelling them to seek work when their youngest child turns seven, campaigners say.
Parents in England, Scotland and Wales are being moved from Income Support to Jobseeker’s Allowance under a switch initiated by the previous government.
The government estimates that the move will lift between 11,000 and 15,000 children out of poverty.
But the charity Gingerbread says up to 111,000 families risk losing benefits.
It fears many single parents will not be able to afford extra childcare costs and will struggle to find flexible part-time jobs in the current economic climate.
While Jobseeker’s Allowance pays the same amount as Income Support – £65.45 a week – parents must show they have applied for jobs in order to claim it and be available for a minimum of 16 hours of work a week during school hours.
Up until now, lone parents with children aged between seven and nine were eligible for Income Support.
Parents with a youngest child aged 12 were put on to the new system in 2008 and those with a youngest child aged under 10 were moved last October.
Those who are disabled or have children who have disabilities will be unaffected by the change.
Better support
The Department of Work and Pensions says parents will get advice on childcare, benefits and part-time working. And the changes come after the coalition announced welfare benefits for the unemployed and low paid could be brought together under a new universal credit system to “make work pay”.
Work and Pensions Minister Maria Miller said: “We know that work is the best route out of poverty. This is why lone parents with younger children will now be able to have access to help and support.”
But Gingerbread’s chief executive Fiona Weir said the proposed coalition reforms, which will ensure the unemployed will be able to retain some benefits after they find a job, are not going to be implemented in full for two parliaments.
“Today 110,000 single parents whose youngest child is aged over seven are going to find themselves set up to fail, because they’re going to be required to look for jobs in a really tough labour market where there aren’t many jobs, without adequate support, with very few flexible jobs that fit around school hours,” she said.
“They’re just not going to get the jobs they’re looking for unless they get better quality support and unless the government acts to make the shorter hour, flexible jobs pay. The government is talking about this a lot but the measures it is going to introduce will not come into effect for years.”
Gingerbread adds that figures suggest more than 20% of children whose single parent is in full-time work still fall below the poverty line.
The changes comes after Gingerbread said single parents will be hit hard by reductions in help with childcare costs and a freeze on working tax credit in the government’s Spending Review.
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