§ Ms Julie MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many lone parents in Wales who claim(a) income support and (b) housing benefit will have a lower level of income compared to present claimants after April as a result of the abolition of lone parent premium; [29990]
(2) what estimate she has made of the number of lone parents in Wales whose income will be reduced because of proposed changes to lone parent benefit; [29959]
(3) how many lone parents in Wales who claim council tax benefit after April will lose income as a result of the abolition of the lone parent premium. [29991]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyExisting recipients of the lone parent rate of child benefit and family premium will be protected. There will be no cash losers. At the end of 1998/99, it is estimated that the number of lone parents making new claims in Wales who will receive the same rate as couples with children as a result of the measure to remove entitlement to the lone parent rate of family premium (from April 1998) and child benefit (from June 1998), will be around 14,000 in Income Support; 3,000 in Housing Benefit; 2,000 in Council Tax Benefit and 4,000 in Child Benefit.
§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if she will list for each OECD member state the age of the youngest child at which under social security regulations the lone parent concerned with the child's upbringing is required to seek work. [33631]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is set out in the table.
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The requirement-to-seek-work rules for lone parents in relation to the age of their youngest child as a condition for the receipt of social assistance benefits for those OECD countries Country OECD Country Requirement for lone parents to seek work as a condition for receipt of income-tested benefits Austria Requirement to seek work when youngest child is aged 3 Belgium Discretionary Denmark Lone parents subject to same rules as apply to all other claimants (subject to availability of child care) Finland Requirement to seek work when youngest child is aged 3
The requirement-to-seek-work rules for lone parents in relation to the age of their youngest child as a condition for the receipt of social assistance benefits for those OECD countries Country France Lone parents may receive an income-related benefit Allocations de parents isolé (API) for one year, but are expected to take paid work once the youngest child is 3 years old—if they do not, they can claim income-related Revenu Minimum d'Insertion (RMI) which is payable at a lower rate Germany Lone parents must be available for part-time work when the youngest child reaches nursery school age and for full time work when the child reaches 14 years Greece None Iceland None Ireland Requirement to seek work when youngest child is aged 16 Italy Discretionary Luxembourg Requirement to seek work when youngest child aged 6. Law on RMG (income support) to be tightened so that parents with children over 2 will only receive benefit if there is no suitable job available Netherlands Requirement to seek work when youngest child aged 5 (age 12 before 1994) Norway Requirement to seek work when youngest child aged 10 Portugal No social assistance benefits for lone parents Spain Discretionary Sweden Requirement to seek work for all. Municipalities obliged to provide daycare for children aged between 1 and 12 Switzerland Discretionary within individual cantons UK Requirement to seek work when youngest child is aged 16 Australia Requirement to seek work when youngest child is aged 16 Canada Requirement differs in each Province/Territory. In some, requirement to seek work when youngest child is aged 12. In others, it is when youngest child is 6 months old Japan No special requirements New Zealand Requirement to seek work when youngest child aged 16 United States Federal guidelines are: Aid to Families with Dependent Children—requirement to seek work when youngest aged 4 Food stamps—requirement to seek work when youngest child aged 6 Different states vary the requirement to seek work1 1In August 1996, President Clinton signed the Welfare Reform Bill giving States considerable power to create their own welfare programmes. The transfer of responsibility from the Federal Government to individual States for the design of welfare systems has created variations in the implementation of these Federal guidelines among States. For example, in the state of Wisconsin long parents are expected to satisfy the work requirement once their youngest child reaches 12 weeks old. Notes:
1. Information about the social assistance schemes or requirement-to-work rules for lone parents in the other OECD countries, namely the Czech Republic, Hungary, Korea, Mexico, Poland and Turkey, is not available.
2. Information about whether the requirements contained in the table are laid down in the social security legislation of the countries concerned or whether they are applied administratively is not available.
Source:
1. DSS Research Report No. 47–Social Assistance in OECD countries (1996).
2. The employment of lone parents (Family Policy Studies Centre) 1996.
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§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment she has made of possible disincentives to work resulting from abandonment of the lone parent rate of child benefit. [32871]
§ Mr. Keith BradleySteps have been taken to protect work incentives for existing lone parents. Existing recipients will continue to receive the higher rate of Child Benefit and lone parents will be able to claim the higher rate of Child Benefit when they leave Income Support for work. Independent research suggests that the average additional income for lone parents already in work and on Family Credit is over £50 a week above the estimate of their out-of-work income.
The Government are addressing the real barriers to work with the New Deal for Lone Parents, improvements to the child care disregard in the in-work benefits, the National Child Care Strategy and the Working Families Tax Credit.