Welfare Reform tightens its grip on lone parents
The Westminster government's welfare reform programme is increasing the pressure on lone parents to look for work. Since October 2010 lone parents whose youngest child is 7 or over are no longer entitled to Income Support as a lone parent. It was announced on Tuesday 20 March 2012 that this age has now dropped to 5 years with immediate effect.
They must now apply for Jobseeker's Allowance and have to be actively seeking employment. Lone parents who are currently in receipt of Income Support with children over 5 will be moving on to Jobseeker's Allowance during the course of 2012.
For more information see: www.dwp.gov.uk/welfarereform/readyforwork
What do you think of these measures? Let the us know by adding to the discussion below...
The views expressed in this discussion are the opinions of others and do not reflect the views of One Parent Families Scotland.
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It is really interesting and I am sure that other people thinks this too.
I am a single parent who works 20 hours a week my daughter is 7 i think some of these statements are true but i dont think anyone can judge people if they dont know the circumstances behind the reasons they are single parents my lovely boyfriend was killed by a drunk driver when i was 6 months pregnant leaving me a single parent not through choice but i remained so through choice. i do think more help is needed for true single parents what gets my back up is the parents out there who dont work dont try to work but collect benefits and have boyfriends living with them or staying most of the time in other words living as a couple but not declaring it, making a mockery of the married parents and the true lone parents .i know at least 5 people in this situation and i am willing to bet there are many many more
Hi, I think too many people are ready to judge single parents, they seem to think you are so rich on income support and they also don't think about people circumstances either. I too lost my husband during my pregnancy and i loved him so much nothing will ever replace him not a single penny. It is not easy bringing up children on your own and loosing someone you love and explaining the heart ache to your child when they ask where their daddy. It must be so easy having a husband support you and love and care for you and your child/children. I miss my husband so much. Also it is all very well conservatives making lone parents work from 16 hours to 24 hours in order to get working tax credits but the school day is not very long only about 6 hours and by the time you take in travelling to and from work to school to collect your child that is going to make it extremely difficult for lone parent to find a job that fits in. I think these people that make these decisions don't know how difficult it really is, and they are hypercrits because they have proberly come from wealthy back grounds any way. Before i lost my husband i worked 40 hours a week late nights and early shifts and sleep ins so i am not lazy either .We are becoming a money orientated country , money is everything it even comes before people, which is really sad and lets face it with all the tory cut backs what jobs are there any way!
Hi Claire. Reading your post and your heartbreaking story is one of the reasons why I am completly against this welfare reform as not everyone's circumtances are back ground are the same. You certainly did not choose to be a lone parent so therefore why should you be hounded and forced to look for work after all Claire if your husband was alive you would have a choice whether you wanted to work or not. It angers me when married women or partenered women are called stay at home mums but lone parents who don't have an outside job are refered to as being lazy. Being a lone parent having to be there 24.7 with no support (don't get me wrong I love being on my own with my daughter) However whilest being a parent is undoubtably the most rewarding job in the world, it is far form an easy ride and certain comments suggest. My thoughts are with you, Claire x
Hi Claire. I noticed you said that lone parents now have to work 24 hours per week in order to be eligible for working tax credit. This change in hours from 16 to 24 is for couples. Lone parents still only have to work 16 hours per week in order to be eligible for working tax credit. We have had a number of lone parent callers on our Helpline saying they have heard they need to work 24 hours, the wrong information is out there somewhere and is confusing people.
Hi Louise. Your post is one of the reasons why people need to stop being closed minded and methodical to lone parents as they really do not know the reasons why we are lone parents, do they! xx
Exactly, it must be so nice having a husband to not only support you finacially but more so emotionally. People don't realise how they would feel if they found their husband had died in their home whilst they were pregnant, and have no daddy for their child. they think it is that easy do they!
Claire
There's not enough jobs out there for people who are looking now, without expecting every single parent with a 5yr old to join in the "non-existent job" hunt!!
I'm a single parent and I can't afford new shoes or clothes for my daughter when she needs them but at least I'm there sending her off to school with a "love you sweetness, have a great day and I'll see you soon my baby"! If someone give me a job that earns £315 clear of taxes, I would be in the exact predicament I'm in now, except id be working all hours, not there to send my child to school or be there to hear all her stories when she comes in filled with excitement from school! And let's face it, with no experience except for raising your own kids and keeping your own home, who is going to employ you at a higher rate of £1260 per month?
Hi Teresa. You sound like a wonderful mum who is absolutly devoted to her daughter and that should be applauded. Please don't think I am being patronising, but maybe the solution for single mums who are stressed about these benefit changes is to just go out and have another baby. ( I'd be lying if I said it was not something that I was considering. There, I have said it. I know some people may not appriciate what I have said but it is how I feel no holds barred!) and it seems to work for lots of other people, at least that way you can still stay/return to income support and be available at all times for your beautiful children Please don't think that I am influencing you in any way shape or form and a baby should always be planned for the right reasons and not just to claim benefits, but surley vhaving another adorable baby to love and care for and sleepless nights can't be any more stressfull than being forced to look for phantom jobs. Also Teresa don't sell yourself short you are doing the hardest job in the world and through being a mum you have learned many transferable skills without even realising it. x
You sum it all up Theresa, There's no more wonderful, rewarding and amazing but also harder job than being a parent and to do it alone takes great strength courage and determination. like you and I don't doubt every parent (lone and partenered) I will apologise no noone (know matter how high up they are) for saying my child is the most important thing in my life.x
It annoys me when working mums who have a partner also working, say 'they have no choice but to work and are sick of single mums getting an easy ride'. Now some working mums do not have a choice and are working just to keep a modest roof over their heads, but if your family can afford a home above council house quality, 2 cars, a holiday every year, meals out, new clothes from high street stores and extra curricular activities ie ballet, karate, music lessons, then you do have a choice.
I was married, working fulltime when we had our first and although not well off could afford modest luxuries and we sacrificed these things so i could be at home full time when i had my second child as i realised that although my daughter enjoyed a nice lifestyle, her time with me and a sibling could not compare. If you work fulltime your children do not get the same level of time and attention from you- i dont care what anyone says to make f/t working mums feel better, they just dont.
Unfortunatly my marriage ended when i became pregnant with my 3rd child (he left me for a colleague) and i had the choice to either return to work when lo was a baby so we could afford a decent house or move into rented house and be on benefits. I chose the latter as these early years go so quickly and being as my partner was long gone (south africa with his new family!) my daughters have only me for everything- no grandparents nearby no aunts and uncles for visits or even the occasional babysit.
Single parenthood was hard and it sickens me how married women think they are worse off than some single mums- even if your husband is lazy and does no housework (i know mine was!) there are so many tiny things he does do even just an extra pair of eyes and ears in the house of an evening is a help so you can get on with stuff. you dont realise the burden till hes gone- all the bills being sorted out everything and then your child only has u your needed more so.
im working 30 hours now my youngest is 6, and im slightly better off financially.
Hi Joanne.In my experience it is single parents that have no choice but to work due to these government changes. Like you and thousands of other lone parents I have to look for work of face serious consequences, were as I know of lots of married partenered/mums who choose and are allowed to be to be" stay at home mums". x
That's a genuinely impressive asnwer.
I think this new tax reform thing is over the top, I have a four year old daughter and am a single parent. MY daughters birthday is in January she will be four when she starts school. I think that it is reasonable to expect single parents to look for part time work when their child is around seven but five is just too young. With most kids starting school around five there is already enough change going on in their lives-and their parents...they need time to settle in and familiar routines, not parents who are trying to fit them in around work. Luckily for me, last year I attended an access to university course(part time while I was on benefits) and this year I have started full time on an undergraduate course. It seems just in time-I recommend this move for any single parent -my daughter is in extended hours at nursery-which the uni pay something towards-I am improving my skills(on initial teacher training) and hopefully improving my job chances. Also I get to spend lots of time with my daughter but also get a bit of time to my self -and spent with other adults lol.I am also financially better off now that I receive SASS( and also have taken out the maximum student loan lol) than I was on benefits and really feel more positive I should graduate when she is about seven-and would be happy to work then. If I had gone into work now-I would be struggling to find a minimum wage job-with little or no prospects, having to balance wages and childcare etc...At my last job centre interview thing before I started uni I was advised that I would be £40 a week better off working 16 hours-this did not take-travel, work clothes and missing my daughter into account-and this was with all the get you to work grants and did not fully cover childcare. I had my daughter when I was 19 and I would really strongly advised yound parents-or those with limited previous education to start study as soon as their child is old enough to go to nursery -it is a much better option than working as far as I can see.
While I aplaud the tax credits system, in fact I'll not have a wrong word said against them and I'm sure many lone parents would be at a loss without them. However if a lone parent cannot pay their rent feed and cloth his/her child/ren and yes still have money left over for treats and luxuries for her children which I believe they're entiled to seeing as they're forced away from the most precious thing in their lives (their child/ren) from their salary alone and they need the tax credits to hold their hand then that tells me that there is something not quite right with the system. x
Recieved another rejection for a vacany again!!!! what a damn suprise. There is one positive to this though (job rejections) they can't take my confidence away, well how can any one take from me what I haven't got! so if the government are infatuated with demonising and devluing lone parents then they're wasting their time with me as they cannot make me feel any worse than I already do, my aploogies for disapointing them! With the lack of vacancies and all these rejections I might just way up the pros and cons of having another baby and go back on income support and have a quiet life. I often wonder if I am the only lone parent who feels like this? For any one who wishes to reply to this comment please think before you are judgemental as I have spent over a year exhaustivly applying for vacancies looking for almost any type of work I'm not scared or too proud to put my hand down a toilet to provide financial support for my child and set her a good example.and yes I would even turn to prostitution if things got really difficult and it was the only way to support my child. I am also working voluntary, too so I can't be referred to as work shy if I am willing to go out and work for nothing. I am proud to be working (voluntary) as it comforts me to think that I am giving something back to society, and not just taking from the tax payer, but then to come to my defence I was once a tax payer so I suppose it is fair to say that I used to support people with my taxes, too which of course I didn't mind as I know more than anyone how hard looking for work is in the real world and while I applaud the work programme if it helps me to gain employment then I'm right behind it, but the sad fact is they can't force an employer to take you on if he/she takes one look at you and decides they don't like you there's not really a lot that anyone can do. xxx
I ended up being a single parent at 19. I was working when I fell pregnant but I was with the father at the time and I was working. However, my work refuses to give me maternity pay so I had to leave. My relationship broke down before I had my son and we split. I've been a single stay at home since. I would give anything to be able to find a job with works around my sons school hours I don't have anyone who can watch him during holidays so its a horrible situation. I'm glad I didn't work for the first few years because I didn't miss anything. But now he is st school. I want to work. The government need to give single parents a lot more support. Parenthood is job. You work 24/7 and its the most rewarding job in the world.
I agree with your comment about the importance about staying at home while they're very young as you will never get those years back ever again, and it's very important that you are there for every milestone. Having said that though if I knew then (before the welfare reform was born) what I know now I would have gone back to work when my daughter was a baby. Please don't read me wrong those years were probably one of the best times of my life, but I'm suffering for it now though. It's almost to the point where I am considering having another baby to ease the pressure. and it's not because I am lazy it's because when you're on income support they seem to encourage you more and give you more help to find work on I.S. Whereas on J.S.A you're basically almost left on the scrapheap. It's very well and good people talking about the work programme but it will only work if the jobs are available in the first instance. It's ironic really I am thinking about having another baby because I feel it would give me better opportunities to secure employment. I agree also about your comment on lack of support from the government the and childcare for the over 5's is virtually non existant these nurseries and childminders ( as good as job as they do) don't seem to be able to see past children aged 0-5 years, sorry but it's no use when you've got a school age chlid and you're forced to work with no child care or support. If this government has no reguard for the welfare of children (and they can't do or they would have had childcare provision in place a long time ago) then maybe they should not be in government. I hate the fact that motherhood is often devalued and not seen as a job, but the minute you start caring for someone else's child you are all of a sudden seen to be " working". x
This "free sahinrg" of information seems too good to be true. Like communism.
Why is it if you are looking after someone else's child it is all of a sudden seen as" a job". Whether the government and society like it or agree with me or not" motherhood is a job".! There I've said it! xx
Many married working people are worse off financially than single parents. I object to being taxed so that a woman who has decided to allow the state to be her husband can have a house, free rent, council tax paid and loads of other benefits. That's the truth of it. If a single parent had to work as hard as many married women there would be far, far fewer. Just look around you as pregnant teenage girls fill classrooms as they later do McDonalds. And I know exactly what I am talking about because I have been a single parent - what an easy ride!
I think to say that single parenthood is an easy ride is completly out of order there are various reasons why people become lone parents death of a partener, Having to flee from a violent partener, Parteners running from their responsiblities (I see that there is no mention of cricsism for absent parents in your post) or heaven forbid a women could have been raped and decided to carry on with their pregnancy and should these women who may have fallen on hard times not claim benefits and let their children do without because of methodical individuals like yourself if they are unlucky enough not to be able to find employment. Would you let your children do without Valerie? Well neither am I prepared to let my child go without. Why must I have paid into the system and even for those who haven't that's what the welfare state is there for (the poor and the needy) Also if being a single parent is as you put it such an "easy ride" then it begs the question why did you give it up for marriage/Partenership and I apologise in advance you mean you were a single parent and your children have now grown up. It must be fantasic to be so perfect.
hi. Im a 24 year old mum to a 4 year old an one on the way. i went back straight to work after having my daughter but as of new year got made redundant. So now i am too on benefits as im a single mother. People who say women or men are lazy and are not bothered to find jobs obviously have stable jobs because there is nothing out there. I was lucky enough to have enrolled on a college course last year and to go on to my level 3 this year. if i had chosen to do it this year id have been considered too old for funding. So wht then. i also have been extremely lucky as i have great parents who look after my child when i did go to work, what if i hadnt? And people saying that the welfare rights is over generous well try living on them! its a sad life! i have every repect to mothers who run thiers houses and feed and dress thier children on these low amounts of money!
Oh it is an easy ride you really think that! well may be if you think it is easy finding your husband has died whilst you are half way through your pregnancy and you loved that person thought you would spend you entire life with them, then you have to go through child birth on your own and face telling your child they don't have a daddy because they died, then you tell me that is easy! i think this whole country is all about money, what about love? knowing you have a husband to go home to and care for you and your child, knowing you can watch the joy on your husbands face at holding his son or daughter, being able to have that person share the joy and happiness of parenthood, having someone to sit at the dinner table with and share your worries with, taking your child out to the beach and having mummy and daddy times, having someone just to tell you they love you, having someone to wake up with, never being alone or vulnerable in the house, being able to work together instead of doing everything by yourself, believe me, having a daddy for your child is s god send, i'd give anything to have all those things. just because my husband died, i will never have those things, instead i have to be a mummy and a daddy, so please dont tell me that is an easy life!!
In response to your comment Valerie and I refer to one line in particular "I object to being tax so that a women who has chosen the state to be her husband can have a house rent free council tax and other benefits" as you were once a single parent yourself isn't it for people to make the assumption that you once " chose the state to be your husband"? You're not the only one who can play "judge and jury". That's also the " truth of it."
This reply comes with no disrespect meant to you at all, but "Do you honestly think that you are in a position to judge and criticsize lone parents when you have been there yourself.? The words" forgot ones self are ringing in my ears". Sorry Valerie, but some had to have the guts to say it
Just a reply to your comment, Valerie. Like you I also find being a lone parent very easy ,as I only have my self and my child to think of. However I recognise that not all lone parents are as lucky as me and I do not think it is my place or yours to be judgemental to other people and generalise that being a lone parent is an easy ride. you have only got to go through these comment and read them in detail to see that it is very far from an ride for some lone parents. I also think it is unfair to pass judgement on teenage mothers, Yes of course Valerie I am very far from nieve and I am aware that some teenagers deliberatly get pregnant for certain reasons ie the benefits or maybe just to be loved uncondionally! and there are also the ones who fall accidentally which could have easily happened to both you or me or anyone else. x
I have been a single parent and brought up 2well behaved kids, I am now working and my daughter is working full time. I chose not to get married, and at nearly 40years old still feel the same. My thoughts are also still the same and would never pass judgement on any single mothers on benefits. No one knows any backround details to each individual so therefore we need to stop adding negative critisism by comparing their lives to our own. That is just my view and hope it will catch on.
Thankyou from myself and on behalf of all lone parents for such a non judgemental comment. it is very much appriciated x
Valerie, you say many married women work hard and you're probably right and this website is all about voicing your opinion which you are more than entitled to do so, but so too am I, so here goes please do not forget we can turn this around there are plenty of married women that are "allowed to stay at home and choose to and there are plenty of single parents who work very hard.
Hi Valerie, your point is taken, but please do not generalise and be judgemental as not all single parents "choose the state to be their husband" people can become single parents through no fault of their own ie death of a parntener of domestic violence. What is a person who is being abused by her partner supposed to do stay with them just so as not to be an inconvienience to society. Let's not also forget a lot of single parents work damn hard
I am fed up reading comments from people who have taken the decision to have children but expect other people to support them via the over generous welfare system and i include full housing benefit and council tax benefit when I say that which most people seem to forget they receive. I was shocked to find out recently that every penny generated from the income tax of every single working man and woman in this country goes to those on benefits which is why there is so much additional stealth taxes that keep going up and up. I think I should be given the choice as to whether I should contribute financially to those on benefits and the only 2 groups I can think of are OAP's and those who are genuinely incapacitated. I hate having to work all month and having £500 a month taken from me plus another £120 to the council. People are saying there are no jobs but immigrants seem to travel across Europe and pick up a job within weeks of arrival yet people here cannot do the same thing in a year. If we all decided to give up work and live off benefits, the country would grind to a complete standstill then where would you be. Benefits should be replaced with food stamps only and no money for booze and fags.
people should think themselves lucky to have a husband and a father for their child, they forget thst
Here we go again, money money money, think yourself lucky you have a husband someone to care for you and your child! Because how would you feel if your childs daddy passed away and you were the one who found them during your pregnancy. it makes me angry at people forgetting the real most important values in life, because i would give anything to have my husband back, and one day i will have the pain and the heart ache of telling my your child their daddy is in heaven, have some respect and appreciate you have a husband in the first place! I worked 40 hours a week as a carer before i lost my husband and believe me single parents are not wealthy ok!
But other than that, how wonderful must it be to have someone love you and take care of you and to share the experience of parent hood together instead of doing it alone!
My duty is to my child not the government x
My first duty is also to my children and providing their financial support. It is not my duty however to provide financial support to other people's children who cannot be bothered to work or look for work.
Please do not be judgmenal, Joanne. saying that people cannot be bothered to look for work when you know nothing about their lives or circumstances. I work voluntary and I have tried everything to get a job and will continue doing so as these impossibly beyond the joke hard to please employers will not grind me down. At the same token though I will not let them be the most important thing in my life either! I worked danm hard before I became a mother and paid my taxes so to some extent it is my money, and if you heaven forbid ever come out of work , which can happen to anyone at any time (yourself included) the benefits that you may have to claim will be your money, too as you have paid in to the system.
I am a single mum to a four year old whose not 5 till june next year I received a letter back in September saying I would be moved to JSA when my daughter turns 5 fair enough but since last September I have had to go to my jobcentre every 2 weeks and tell my lone parent adviser what I have been doing to actively seek work you dont get to wait till they turn 5 at all. The stress is unbelievable the pressure on lone parents is disgraceful but nothing will be done society loves to pick on the lone parent. I had a interview last week for a temporary position cost me 15 pound for a top and pants 5 pound in bus fares but of course the lone parent didnt get the job all i got was the most horrible feeling of worthlessness oh and i had to spend 3 days without gas on my meter cause i needed the money for smart clothes and bus fares. Also some of these stay at home mums with partners get tax credits working tax credits and housing benefit help my friend does.
Nothing should shock now on this forsaken planet and with this government running Great Britain, who may I add were not elected but crept in like snakes but the fact that you and your daughter had to go without gas for 3 days as you had to buy clothes to look smart is dispicable this is the 21st century. would your lone parent advisor let her/him self and their family sit for 3 days in these artic conditions without gas? we both know the answer It's all very well job centre staff looking down their nose on lone parents and yes I know that they are only" doing a job themselves", but let's not be too hasty to forget that without lone parents not being in work some of them would not have a job. The words easy target are never far from my mind when I think of the government and lone parents. Some one is going to say this so it might as well be me I am a lone parent and I most certainly do not feel worthless being a lone parent and not working and neither should you feel that way, Kate as we do the hardest job in the world. Do partenered/ mothers reffered to as" stay at home mums" feel worthless and have to justify them selves to certain closed minded members of society? certainly not!so nor do I and isn't it strange when it's a job when people look after other people's children ie foster carers ect x
Hi im a single dad ,i have full custody of 3 children and have been single parent since 2005. I have to agree with many single parents on here .My situation is a littl different .I have no qaulifications.no family support and also have a disibility that limits what work i can do but at the same time not ill enough to claim DLA or any of those benefits. I am being pushed to find work to come off of benefits.WHAt so i can just give it all back for nothing . I would have to pay full housing rent,tax,school meals,afterschool clubs carers i would end up owing more than i would have comming in unless i work longer shifts .So i get no time with my kids .No thanks my kids have suffered enough without this rubbish too. I didnt ask to become a single dad with 3 kids & live on benefits . Maybe if you cut some of these big cats wages instead of making the poor poorer. Bank managers are greedy just like goverment officials put your hand in your own pockets for once
I am a single Mother with a just four year old son.
When I had my son, I was sixteen. I went to college and completed four different courses over two and a half years. The fourth course was the hardest because I had to pay almost £200 over the year for a registration fee. That hit me really hard, but was worth it as I now have the qualifications.
The government doesn't just throw free council houses at you with loads of money. It's really difficult just to get a home and claim benefits especially when you're living on the streets or sofa surfing whilst pregnant. People need to open their eyes and see it from a single Mother's point of view. Just because my partner left me and our baby, and he does not work, why does that automatically make me a criminal and a disgrace to the human society?! I chose LIFE for MY flesh and blood. Why should I have to murder the life inside of me, just because I don't have a husband or life partner to take care of me, or my child whilst I work.
I should not be forced to work, I want to stay at home with my son. I do not want family, friends and after school clubs raising him, being passed pilla to post, whilst I work in a dead end job earning pennies. Why should I have to take him in at eight am for breakfast club and leave him in after school clubs until five or six pm, that's a long day for a child that's only just starting school! Also, a hell of a lot of money for these clubs which is going to come from where? Once I was working, I'd have to pay for FULL rent and council tax, (£450ish monthly.) which is a lot of money to pay when I'd only be earning around £600 a month and that's if I worked EVERY single day apart from Sundays, whilst raising a four year old, keeping on top of bills, running a house and being pregnant too!
I am a good Mummy and it's the hardest job in the world, especially to do it ALONE, don't judge single parents, we didn't choose to be on benefits and live in council houses.
Society and the government see you a criminal because you are an easy target, Cherry. It's far easier and braver for them to find fault with a single parents trying to do the best for both her and her innocent child who did not ask to be born into a single parent family! then to vent their anger and discontempt to the parent who walks away from their responsibilities. I'm with you Cherry believe that returning to work should be at your own discretion not society's of the government. Especially if you have paid in to the system(Square pegs and round holes also come to mind)
I am a single parent to a 7months old baby.. Where am i gona get a job to pay my full rent; council tax,childcare etc i dont have a familyy i cant pass my baby to anyone.. ths new goverment need to be kicked out asap.. useless cutting dwn all the jobs. u cant get a job without expirience how you suppoz to have it if thy dnt gve u the job. david cameroon need to be out his not duin anything just takin money for no reasonn...
Hi Jojo. I fully hear your concerns and I am completley on your side and I do agree with everything you have said and the bottom line is "There are not many jobs out there. However please try not to let this worry take over your life as at present you are not obligated to work until your child is 5 giving you another 4 years and 5 months a lot can happen in that time. fair enough very easy for me to say that I am not your life.However you can ask for a better off calculation when you need to return to work and you should not be obiged to take a job that leaves you financially worse off, because as my memory serves me these rules where born to help eliminate child poverty and how would child poverty be eliminated by making lone parents work and be out of pocket. also congratulations on your lovley new baby, please just try to spend the next few years completley and utterly him/her as they grow so fast and he/she will be starting school. The thing that has angered me most, Jojo about the welfare reform is the fact that married/partenered mums are not obliged to seek work, but then why should we expect anything eles, after all lone parents are an easy target aren't we! I completley seeth when partenered mums who choose not to work are seen as stay at home mums or full time mums, but lone parents who do not work are looked on as lazy and setting a bad example,err what exactly is the morale difference because I cannot see one xx
I believe that returning to work should be a personal choice my child is 12 and very mature and trustworthy and quite confident to look after her self but who am I say " All lone parents should return to work" as we all have different needs and we cannot all be put in the same box so it would be very ignorant of me or anyone else for that matter to be judgemental to other lone parents and have the "get a job"! attitude. I offer my services voluntary and it makes me feel valued and sets a good example to my child that you should not just take but also give something back, too and it also gives me my own identity. while I love being a mum first and formost I am also a person in my own right with a lot to offer to the workplace and I look farward to being part of the work force (gaining paid employment,hopfully sooner rather than later), but having said that I don't think forcing lone mums/dads into unsuitable work to was the correct way to go about reforming the welfare state. xxx
David Cameron - BESTQuote " We live in a sick society"
Yeah thats right! Why in gods name was you elected?!? Since when was it ok to leave children at the age of five to fend for themselves!
What I seen since David Cameron has been in power:
Forcing Mothers/Fathers Back to work
Introduced Work Programme, Which forces people into non-paid work if they been claiming jobseekers for 6-12 months. You are placed with a provider for up to 2yrs. This breaks many LAWS, Slavery is one as if you say no you will lose benfit entilement for 6months and is also in breach of Data Protection Act, Many of these providers have all ready been fined, A4E, Prospects for example.
David Cameron attacks human rights and wants it changed.
David Cameron attacks gay rights.
David Cameron failed to deliever Fifa which would of created some jobs.
Massive Private Sector Cutts
Many Factorys Closing and moving abroad.
Univeristy Fees Doubled
Schools Being Closed
Talk about monthly Bin Collections (WTF)
MP's Stealing Tax Payers Money
High Inflation
David Cameron bailing out other countrys
Also so much more which I probably not added above, The only sick people who are running this country are the polticians which we elect.
Change has to start somewhere, I would say bring back labour!.
i agee have been sent to an employment place called maximus run by david camerons lot to get me off jsa they are desp to save money and the poor are the ones to suffer as usual
Well said matt
I could not have said it any better myself
I totally agree, i am on a work programme and i believe its close to being forced to stay with the work programme. I am not happy and nor did they help me until i started to help myself. I enrolled at college then when i went to ask for some help with funding, i was told it will only be provided if i go and enrol on a college which the work programme will allocate me. untill that time i was willing to pay a third of it. Thinking i can start my course, no sooner did the work programme find out i was helping myself they said i have to listen to what they are offering and go by their rules as they are supposed to help me. In all honesty i feel trapped and very miserable as i was offered a college place where i had enrolled months ago and realised i have to give that up. The jobcentre advisers say different things too, one said if your not happy you dont have to stay with them. One said make the best of the two years you have with them. I will say it is a waste of time being on the work programme if a person is not happy, and should be allowed to leave and go to another work programme. I complained to the manager and he just said he will try to help but i just feel the jobcentre is asleep as they seem to think the money thrown to all work programmes is going to help us get jobs sooner. Its not and i am also volunteering incase anyone thinks i am just complaining for nothing. I feel stressed as i needed the college place.
I cannot say bring back labour but i will say all politicians are out to line their own pocket and when they get fed up of the state the country is left in they are then glad to leave. Its a circle and all leaders are the same in my opinion.
Hi Marsh Monster. yes all leaders are the same, hence the reason the reason I have never voted since the welfare reform was born, and I never will (unless it becomes compulsary) and the next government that I choose to elect will be one that promises to stop demonising lone parents, and if we are to be forced to be seperated from our children then we need to demand better childcare acsess(sorry 4 getting off the point a bit there.) Lone parents are not asking for special treatment just fair treatment. x
you have seen what has happened since this party got in again,making cuts to all sorts of services to pay back the countries debts, protesters riots striking,all since this government,you know that the price of food has gone up sky high even economy food and they have not increased the benefits of single mums and sick people, therefore we get more sick because we cant afford proper food,no homes,people,will be starving soon and more and more sleeping on the streets.So why don't the government cut the ridiculously high wages of politicians,to help pay back,its not right that they get paid more than someone working in an hospital or doing some other deserving job.There are not enough jobs to get people working and they are so low paid its nothing more than cheap labour.I feel sorry for our kids,growing up in this world ruled by this evil money grabbing government.Rich are getting rich and the poor poorer,sad
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