Written evidence to be reported to the House
Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill
12:00 pm
Janet Allbeson: Research shows that the vast majority of lone parents by far want to work, and maintenance does make a difference to that. Research looking at a group of lone parents, a cohort, between 1991 and 2001, shows that receipt of maintenance—disregarding other things, such as education, home ownership or other factors—is a positive indicator of going into work. Getting maintenance actually assists people in getting into work. That is not surprising when you think about it, because the big hurdle for going to work for a lot of lone parents is insecurity. If maintenance is already flowing, that helps them begin to make decisions about putting together a package of part-time earnings, tax credits and maintenance, which can carry them over the hurdle into work and all the expenses of starting work. They are having to pay child care, of course. You only get a certain amount of help with child care—I think that it is 80 per cent. now; there is another 20 per cent. to pay. Child maintenance can really make work a viable proposition.