Adopting US welfare reforms would mean more poverty, not less

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12/12/07 Commenting today on Chris Grayling's announcement that the Conservatives would adopt the 'Wisconsin' welfare reform model and force lone parents of four year olds out to work (and of 11 year olds full time...) , Chief Executive of One Parent Families|Gingerbread Chris Pond said:

"Most lone parents want to work when it is right for their children that they do so. Looking for lessons from America, one of the only countries with a worse child poverty record than the UK, is a recipe for disaster. Since 2000, America has seen over a million more children fall into poverty, and there are now around 2 million children a month whose parents are out of work but receive no state welfare.

"Relying on a punitive approach which has been shown to damage child wellbeing casts serious doubts on the Conservative's commitment to ending child poverty.

"Most lone parents are already working and those who are not either want a job but can't find childcare or jobs that fit with school hours or they have good reasons for prioritising their parenting responsibilities for a time. The Conservative party would do better to think about how to provide employment support for lone parents who are work-ready rather than strong-arming every mother and father who has found themselves caring for their children alone."

Notes to editors:

Between 2000 and 2004, the number of children in the US living in families with cash incomes below half the poverty line increased by 774,000. Over the same period, the number of children getting assistance from TANF declined.
Employment rates among single mothers are higher today than in the mid-1990s, but they have fallen since 2000.
From 1996 to 2003, the number of single mothers who fall into the "no work, no welfare" group in an average month increased by more than 400,000. There are now roughly 1 million poor single mothers - with 2 million children - in an average month who fall into this "no work, no welfare" group.
Between 2000 and 2004, an additional 1.4 million children fell into poverty.

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