Financial incentives and quarterly interviews are failing to encourageunemployed lone parents back to work, according to a Department for Workand Pensions-commissioned study.
Carried out by the Policy Studies Institute the study asked advisers andlone parents for their opinions of three pilots - the quarterlyinterview initiative for parents with a youngest child aged 12 as wellas two financial incentive schemes, the Work Search Premium and theIn-Work Credit.
It was found that while lone parents welcomed the financial assistancefrom the In-Work Credit and the Work Search Premium, neither schemeinfluenced their decision to find work.
In the case of the Work Search Premium, which makes 20 a weekavailable to those actively searching for work for a 26-week period, alllone parents interviewed said they had already made the decision to lookfor work prior to finding out about the extra money. Similarly, mostlone parents interviewed for the study who were in work were unaware ofthe In-Work Credit, which offers 40 a week for a year to thosewho take a job of more than 16 hours a week, before starting theirjob.
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