4Children urges caution over benefits
Tristan Donovan
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Children's charity 4Children will call on politicians to withdraw benefits from parents bit by bit to help ease child poverty in a pamphlet to be published next Monday (28 April).
The proposal is one of five policy tests that the charity's Turning up the Volume on Child Poverty document will say the three main political parties must meet if they are serious about ending child poverty by 2020.
The pamphlet will highlight how the move from unemployment to work is crucial for parents on low incomes. It will also set out how measures to help them cope with the loss of benefits are needed to stop families falling back into poverty.
The document, which is funded by the Financial Services Authority, will say: "The transition into work can have serious financial penalties for parents before their income has stabilised. The loss of benefit entitlement, combined with costs such as travel, make the prospect of job entry, particularly on the minimum wage or working part time, a daunting one."
As a result, the charity will say Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat welfare policies must include a "phased continuation of benefits", which would help parents stay in work and ease financial pressure during their first months in a job.
As well as the five policy tests, 4Children's pamphlet will contain submissions from Children's Secretary Ed Balls, shadow children's secretary Michael Gove and Lib Democrat children's spokesman David Laws, which set out the parties' plans to end relative child poverty in the UK.
Anne Longfield, chief executive of 4Children, said: "A lot of lone parents tell us moving into work is a daunting prospect full of unknowns - they need to feel there is stability and security. By making the transition easier, there's a better chance of work being seen as a way forward. We want the political parties to commit to this approach."
Turning up the Volume on Child Poverty will be launched at the charity's Creating Opportunities, Building Futures conference in London, for which CYP Now is the media partner. Speakers include children's minister Beverley Hughes and employment and welfare reform minister Stephen Timms.
