New welfare reforms for single parents

Until now single parents have been able to claim income support until their youngest child is ten.

From today, lone parents will have to switch to Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) three years earlier, when their youngest child is seven.

“Who is going to give me a job? Who is going to keep me on when I need to take a week off because my daughter is ill?” Alice Little, single parent

The amount of money single parents can claim won’t change, but they will have to actively seek work to qualify for the payment. This involves fortnightly job centre interviews and applying for positions in between interviews.

The change comes into force less than a week after the Government slashed more than £80bn from the public purse in the spending review.

Single parent support
The Department for Work and Pensions says single parents on JSA will benefit from a comprehensive range of support including training opportunities, job application advice and other financial grants to help them return to work.

Ministers also cite international evidence that shows the child of a lone parent who works part-time is 2.5 times less likely to live in poverty than the child of a lone parent who is not working.

“The reality is that today thousands of single parents are being set up to fail.” Gingerbread Charity

But single parents’ charity Gingerbread says the reforms leave single parents high and dry.

Chief Executive Fiona Weir said: “The coalition government says it wants to make work pay and to support single parents into work, but the reality is that today thousands of single parents are being set up to fail.

“Government needs to act fast to improve availability of jobs with flexible working hours, improve the job-search support provided from day one of a claim, and increase access to childcare.

“Gingerbread welcomes the aim of new welfare reform proposals to make work pay, but the timescale for their implementation is too long for the single parents affected by today’s change.

“We urge the government to introduce short-term measures to help make short-hours jobs pay, and to review recent decisions to cut help with childcare costs which will create a further barrier for single parents trying to get into work.”

Alice Little is a single mum from London who has a 10-year old daughter. She will be switching from income support to Jobseeker's Allowance at the end of November.

"I'm furious, I feel really angry. There is no more important job than bringing up a child, what we're doing is already worthwhile. I definitely want to be available for my daughter.

"It's not like the jobs are there. I feel we're being witch-hunted and scapegoated. They must know loads of people won't find work. Are we then going to have our benefits cut? It's a very uncertain future for us.

"Who is going to give me a job? Who is going to keep me on when I need to take a week off because my daughter is ill?

"We need time to be with our kids. We don't want to be getting home at 6 o'clock, doing homework, having to make dinner and then put the kids to bed without having any proper interaction with them.

"A mum's first responsibility is to her child. A friend of mine, who worked, was reported to social services because different people, including me, were picking her child up from school every day."

Alice Little is part of the Single Mothers' Self-Defence network

There are also concerns the reforms could prevent some single parents from entering further education.

“We know that work is the best route out of poverty.” Maria Miller, Work and Pensions Minister

Chief Executive of Family Action, Helen Dent CBE said: “Welfare reform is prioritising getting single parents of younger children into work, yet many low-income single parents with ambitions to find decent jobs face significant barriers to their education and training.

“Unless the Government leads on tackling these barriers, lower-income single parents will be frustrated in their ability to obtain employment that would lift their families off benefits.

“It is a shame that when parents have taken an imaginative approach to finding a place in the labour market by studying for a more unusual profession or overcoming barriers to study by distance learning, that there is no public funding to support their initiative.”

Route out of poverty
The Government says there are around 110,000 single parents with a child aged seven, eight or nine who will be affected.

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 to look for work through Jobcentre Plus.

“Getting a good balance between work and family responsibilities is important for every parent. Jobcentre Plus advisors will actively support lone parents so that they can get that balance right too.”