Vox Pop: Should young parents receive a higher rate of benefits?

YES
Ellen Broome, director of policy, The Children’s Society
At the moment, single parents aged under 25 get the same rate of benefits and tax credits as those aged 25 or over. The system doesn’t discriminate against young single mums and dads by giving them less support.

Now the government wants to change that by taking away £750 a year in support from young single parents. This change will affect both working and non-working single parent families.

That just doesn’t make sense. The needs of a family are no different because the mum or dad is 24 rather than 25. It is only fair that single parents of all ages get the same support, so they can continue to provide the best possible support for their family through tough times.

NO
Alec Shelbrooke, Conservative MP for Elmet and Rothwell
A higher rate of benefits for parents under 25 would mean that it would be worth more money to opt into a life on benefits from a young age.

Benefits are not a career choice; they’re a helping hand in times of trouble. Even if one young person is tempted to stop aspiring towards employment and instead chooses to move into the benefits trap, then the welfare state has failed slightly.

To take this risk by increasing the rate of benefits is not only immoral, but would go against the entire purpose of the welfare state to protect society and provide the necessary support for ambition to prosper.

YES
Belinda Phipps, chief executive, National Childbirth Trust
When you have a baby, it doesn’t matter how old or young you are, it makes your financial situation more difficult. When a parent is worried about finances, they can be stressed and in a bad position to look after their child. Or they may have to find a job or work more hours to meet their child’s needs. That means a parent’s attention is diverted from their child. We know that children’s brain development, particularly those aged under two, depends on the way their parents interact with them. So we wouldn’t want to see parents put under financial stress at that point in their child’s lives.

NO
Robert Oxley, campaign manager, The TaxPayers’ Alliance
It’s vital that our tax and benefits systems are designed to make work pay. Welfare cannot be an alternative to work. The tax system should not delay the creation of families in the same way that the benefits system should not allow people to ignore the financial responsibilities of doing so. Nor can the system be a vehicle simply to subsidise wages, as that is both unsustainable to taxpayers and an ineffective way of helping those that need it. The best way to help low-paid families is to cut the amount of tax they pay, rather than taking money off them, putting it through the cogs of bureaucracy and form filling, only to hand it back to them in benefits. That is how you cut the burden on families – not by making them more reliant on handouts.