Last week, the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) launched a major anti-poverty policy initiative called ‘Working for Children’ http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/2007/childpoverty/childpoverty.pdf . This builds on the announcements made in the Budget to take a further 200,000 children out of poverty by increasing tax credits and providing wider support for parents. 'Working for Children' refocuses £150 million of resources within the Department for Work and Pensions towards greater support for families.
The proposals include:
Piloting a 'New Deal for Families' approach so more families get access to support that is often only available for lone parents. This will include extending the support available in the New Deal for Lone Parents Plus pilot areas to all families with children in those areas.
Extending the New Deal for Lone Parents Plus scheme and increasing obligations on lone parents with older children to look for work. This proposal dominated news media discussion, which focused on the appropriateness of encouraging single parents to seek work once their youngest child reaches 12.
Providing more support to families, particularly in London, by including widening and improving the in-work credit scheme which provides additional financial support for lone parents as they make the transition to work.
Providing advice and support for the partners of parents claiming Jobseekers Allowance, with the introduction of mandatory six-monthly work-focused interviews for this group.
These proposals build on the analysis of poverty carried out last year by Lisa Harker in her report for the DWP called, “Delivering on Child Poverty: what it would take” http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm69/6951/6951.pdf and the more recent, Freud Report, “Reducing dependency, increasing opportunity; options for the future of welfare to work.” http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/2007/welfarereview.pdf .
The government remains convinced that getting people into work is their best route out of poverty. This week, I’ve heard numerous government ministers reaffirm their commitment to halving child poverty by 2010. If you want to understand the government’s strategy, I’d say read Harker, Freud and ‘Working for Children’ and you will know as much as anyone.
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I think I agree that the best way to help people out of poverty is to get them into work, as long as it's done in a thoughtful way. Being unemployed is depressing and won't help anyone. Of course, if you are a parent of young children it's different, but there should be good cheap childcare provision for parents who would like to return to work. I like the whole tax incentive thing, which makes sure that you're always better off with a job than without. I met so many miserable people out of work in France - they had enough money to live fairly comfortably but they all seemed a bit sad and hopeless.
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