Bold changes and combined efforts could work
Bold changes and combined efforts could work for
families, says CPAG
Child Poverty Action
Group
--
Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG)
applauds the Green Party’s "Mending the Safety Net" policy
announcement of Sunday, which is the boldest step yet in
family income policy taken by New Zealand’s political
parties.
It is the kind of boldness required to put a
stop to the poverty experienced by families with young
children, families who may earn low wages or are receiving a
welfare benefit.
By raising core benefits and the earned
income threshold at which benefits begin to abate, there is
a better chance for all families on benefits to begin to get
ahead and to work their way toward financial independence.
This is a far greater incentive to work than the current
system of paying meagre benefits that lead to a devastating
poverty trap, including insurmountable debt as basic living
costs are unable to be met.
Changes to Working for
Families (WFF) are by far the boldest yet and align with the
core asks of CPAG’s Fix Working for Families
campaign.
"The Greens have recognised that forcing
stringent work criteria to be met in order to obtain a
payment tied to the cost of raising children is a very poor
work incentive, and one that leaves a devastating number of
the worst-off children behind," says Associate Professor
Susan St John, CPAG economic spokesperson.
"Furthermore
under the new Inland Revenue system of real time
adjustments, the In-Work Tax Credit will be paid
inconsistently to many families on casual work hours,
effectively punishing them for having their hours of work
reduced through no fault of their own."
Scrapping the
In-Work Tax Credit and replacing it with a $72 Children’s
Tax Credit will be the lift needed to alleviate the worst of
child poverty. In conjunction with other policies, such as
the higher Family Tax Credits set out by National
and Labour’s focus on newborns and the working
poor there could be some real improvement to the lives
of many children.
"It is heartening to hear that Labour
are open to adopting parts of the Green policy, including
scrapping the sanctions. CPAG urges Labour to also consider
the remodelling of the IWTC into a Children’s Tax Credit
available to all low-income families," says St John.
In
recognising the changing face of modern relationships and
the fluidity of the family model, Greens will implement a
policy that allows a sole parent to continue to receive the
Sole Parent Support benefit upon entering a new
relationship. The policy would require a sole parent to be
transparent about their relationship to Work and Income, but
allow them to retain financial independence over their
children until such time as they are considered to be part
of a household of joint property and finance.
"This is a
remarkable and commendable policy by the Greens, that would
mean sole parents are able to retain control over their own
family finances without having to rely on a new partner to
do so," says Associate Professor Mike O’Brien, CPAG social
security spokesperson.
"Under current policy, if a sole
parent enters into a new relationship with a beneficiary,
they are required to receive a joint benefit which reduces
the per adult amount dramatically, placing further financial
strain where there are children. Children are left far worse
off because of this unfair policy."
"Beneficiary sole
parents do not receive child support, as this is swallowed
up by the IRD as a contribution toward their main benefit,
so their is no extra for them to survive on."
Currently
sole mothers are punished by harsh sanctions that reduce
their benefit if they do not name the father on their
benefit application. Greens say they will abolish these
sanctions and others that make life for beneficiaries much
harder.
CPAG is releasing a series of policy priority papers outlining
recommendations to improve New Zealand’s healthcare,
education, welfare and housing systems. CPAG says that
implementing these recommendations will reduce child poverty
substantially and improve the lives of all low-income
families with children, as well as contribute to a reduction
in hospital admissions of children with poverty-related
illnesses, paving the way for a New Zealand where all
children can flourish. If implemented, combined, the latest
policies from Greens and Labour will go a long way to
achieving
this.
ENDS