Budget 2006 – Submission from One Parent Families

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March 2006 The Government is soon to announce whether it has met its target to reduce child poverty by a quarter by 2004/05. We commend the progress made to date, but we fear that slower progress than expected last year means that the target may be missed. Last year's figures showed that children in one parent families made up 42 per cent of all poor children, so tackling lone parent poverty must remain a top priority. This Budget represents a vital opportunity for further investment to meet this goal.

In particular Government must:

Commit to uprating benefits and tax credits for children to ensure that they are not left behind.
Invest now in the Child Support Agency. We have pointed out the need for urgent investment in the CSA since the last review in 1998. Delivering child maintenance effectively would not only reduce child poverty but also help Government to meet its ambitious lone parent employment target. Failure to invest in this area once again will simply shore up further problems in the long term.
Invest now to meet the target to have 70 per cent of lone parents in employment by 2010. The Green Paper on welfare reform sets out plans to help 300,000 more lone parents into work. But at present Jobcentre Plus is failing to deliver on its existing targets, and will not be able to do so without additional resources. Measures to improve employment retention for lone parents may make the best use of further investment.
Ensure that childcare is available and affordable for lone parents. The promises made on childcare must be delivered on the ground.
Invest in child contact services to ensure strong, secure families even after separation, and to promote child well being.

This submission draws specifically on research conducted by the University of Bath and funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation due to be published later in the year.

DOWNLOAD THE SUBMISSION BELOW.

Budget submission 2006 (PDF 37KB)

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Lone parents caring for a child with a disability or long- term health problem

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