The Lone Parent Benefit Changes

Categories: lone-parenting

Date: 23 November 2008 13:37:58

Ok, so we know it's not an issue that I'm going to be impartial about but this is not going to be a rant. Rather I want to talk through my own situation and story to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of both sides of the argument relating to the changes in lone parent benefit payments and put into perspective a difficult decision I am making this week.

I have been a lone parent for eleven years and until moving to Durham had worked for atleast 16 hours a week for the last seven years, (for a large part of that time working full time). Going back to 2000 I spent a year as a full time student doing my PGCE (post-compulsory) to ensure I was qualified to get a good job. However, for the two years previously to that, I was a full time mum, whilst I was getting myself back together after the break up of my marriage. Currently I am a full time student who is also working part time in order to support myself and my daughter. In September I could have claimed income support, but didn't because I wanted to contribute to my support. Therefore, if I ever need to claim now it would be under the new regulations.

So since my daughter has been 7 I have been in work. For me this has meant I have been able to retain some of the self-esteem I lost being on benefit. However, equally it has meant that I have not been there at times when my daughter might have benefitted from it. Being able to manage work and lone parenthood depended on me being able to find the right childcare, in the right location. Like many lone parents I don't drive.

Issues did arise, sometimes, when my daughter reached secondary school because there is no real childcare available for young people of that age. Thus, when I had to go into work during the holidays (FE colleges requiring this to some extent) I had to rely on the good will of my friends to help keep an eye on my daughter. However, there were instances when I had to leave her home alone during the holidays and when she was ill, once she was 11. I was lucky, because I was teaching I didn't have to be working so much over the holidays and I had some good friends who understood and helped me out. Other parents may not be so lucky.

The issue becomes particularly problematic during the summer holidays when kids get bored. As I wasn't about to supervise my flat did on occassion end up resembling the local youth club - something which didn't necessarily please me or my neighbours. As I wasn't there I had no control over what was happening. I know this is one reason why parents of teenagers want to be about.

As a single parent I am conscious of the media stereotyping saying it is people like me who are not looking after our kids properly and responsible for the growth of anti-social behaviour, letting them become the ASBO generation. Um, on the odd occassion mine did fit the stereotype, slightly, it was because I was out being a responsible person working and contributing to the economy. The trade off for forcing lone parents of teenagers into work may well be increased disorder during the summer.

The next thing I want to raise is the 16 hours a week thing. The government wants people to be working atleast 16 hours a week so they get Working Families Tax Credits to support them, and make working financially viable. What the government doesn't seem to realise is that many of the jobs with appropriate working hours are currently being advertised as being between 10 and 14 hours per week.

My own experience whilst in Durham is that I have got a job where I have been paid for working on average 10 / 11 hours per week(direct contact time), although the job has taken up nearer 16 - 20 hours a week due to preperation, etc. Before formally accepting the job I was told by Working Families Tax Credit that as the prep and marking were essential parts of the job I would be able to count all my hours and be eligable for Working Families Tax Credit. When I actually started working and phoned to confirm my hours and how it worked I was told I could only count the contact hours I have (ie those I'm paid for) and so haven't been able to get Working Families Tax Credit. The upshot of this is I have ended up in a job having a negative impact on my uni work due to the nature and demands of it; my earnings have reduced my Housing Benefit but not increased my Working Families Tax Credit payments.

The week after next I do have an interview for a job where I will be working enough hours, - an evening job which will mean my teenager will have to be trusted and won't have me about, if I manage to get the job. The other job I am currently applying for is around 11 hours a week and so still puts me in the dilemma of not getting Working Families Tax Credit and, if I were on Job Seekers - which I'm not - would not be acceptable, despite being a good part time job. Prayer for wisdom about it all would be appreciated.

It should also be remembered that what we earn from those jobs isn't all an increase in our standard of living. What ever job we get impacts our eligability and payments for housing benefit, even if we don't become eligable for Working Families Tax Credit.

So where does this leave us? Well, from my story and those like me I would leave you these thoughts:

1. It is good for lone parents to have the opportunity to work, it gives self esteem.

2. Most lone parents are like myself and want to support ourselves - living on benefit is not generally a positive life choice people make.

3. Alot of jobs available are under 16 hours per week. If the government is serious about getting lone parents back into work they should consider allowing some form of Working Tax Credit to be paid for jobs of 10 hours a week and above.

4. There will be a social cost in more teenagers being left home alone over the holidays. If parents aren't about to monitor behaviour the effects there will have an impact on social order. The only way to address this is to reinvest more money into activities for teenagers and subsidise the costs for working lone parents.

5. There needs to be a recognition, particularly in the current climate, that employers not employees set the conditions of service. Lone parents being forced into work are very likely to have to leave their teenagers home alone - whether they want to or not.

6. Things like attendance at parents evenings and so forth will be impacted and truancy may rise. It is  very hard to ensure your child is getting to school if you leave before them, yet we may be fined if we don't get them there.

Ok, it might have turned into a bit of a rant, but I really don't think people understand the reality of the whole 16 hours a week thing or the social cost thing. Lone parents who want to work but don't reach the 16 hours are being forced into poverty by government policy at the moment. I fear, as the charities have said, the new policy will either force more lone parents into poverty or increase the disorder.