Going solo is no fun

With politicians saying solo parents should be forced to work and the country debating their motives, people on the domestic purposes benefit (DPB) are understandably feeling a little sensitive.

Some working parents also oppose the proposal by National Party leader Don Brash that DPB beneficiaries with school-age children should be forced to work.

"What if you care for a parent at home as well - or if your children are reeling from a divorce? The needs of children with divorced parents are different from those with married parents," says Joy, a solo parent of three.

Julie, whose son died from a brain aneurism, questions what Brash has in mind for solo parents of disabled children. "Do they also have to live a life in childcare?"

Last year, Carolle, an account manager, was convicted of benefit fraud for claiming the DPB while working at her present job part-time. Because her job is now fulltime and she needs it, she was sentenced to community service - a decision which left her with a criminal record but meant her children still had their mother at home.

"I was so frightened about going to prison. [The fraud] happened because I couldn't make ends meet working part time and losing some of the DPB as a result. We were living on baked beans as it was."

She says it is easy for people such as Brash to say DPB beneficiaries should be working, but the income gained by working part-time is generally not enough to offset the additional costs working creates - childcare, after-school care, school holiday programmes, petrol and clothing.

"For a solo parent, it takes a fulltime income to pay for all that."

Helen Kelly, vice-president for the Council of Trade Unions, says National's proposals and the planned Labour Government childcare subsidies (see sidebar) are bids to get more women working, but overlook genuine choice, which many women don't have.

"Unions do not support moves which force women into paid work and away from their families if that is not their choice. We push for better pay and workplace arrangements which allow workers to balance the demands of the job with the rest of their lives," says Kelly.

Brash, is less than impressed with that attitude. "This is a straightforward case of fairness between the majority of people who get up and go to work each day to look after their families, and those on benefits," he says.

Under National's proposals, those receiving the DPB will be required to undertake part-time employment, retraining or community service when their youngest child at the time they first received the DPB reaches school age (fulltime work is required after a child reaches 14).

This means a solo parent on the DPB with a child of 4 can stay at home, but once that child turns 6 they must work, even if they have since had another child.

"We are sending a message that having child after child on the DPB should not be a long-term career choice," says Brash.

At face value, this seems fairer to the taxpayer. But angry responses from unexpected quarters highlight the complex situations solo parents find themselves in.

Craig Smith, national director of the New Zealand Home Education Foundation, says a number of solo parents on the DPB are at home educating their children for a variety of reasons.

"The home-educating solo mums I know did not choose or plan to be solo mums. To educate children at home requires a comprehensive exemption application from the Ministry of Education, and then examinations conducted by the Education Review Office. These things alone are enough to weed out the uncommitted parent on the DPB."

Brash says though National would provide a "safety net" for parents who were physically or mentally abused and required longer to return to the workforce as a result, home-educating DPB beneficiaries would be required to put their children into school once the youngest reached school age.

But do employers want solo parents who have been forced back into the workforce? The National Party proposes a 90-day trial period to encourage employers to take on solo parents. After that time, either party can agree that employment can be ended without penalty.

"This will encourage employers to give a chance to those they may consider 'risky' and people a chance to prove that they are good employees. In the present environment of labour shortages, many employers are looking for hard-working staff," says Brash.

Julie, a solo mother of three, would like to find these employers. Despite passing a two-year polytechnic course in front-office administration and hospitality with distinction - she gained the third-highest mark in her class and won a prize - she can't get an interview.

Frustrated, she embarked on a university degree in hospitality management before childcare problems forced her to abandon it. "I had to get childcare and take a student loan to do the courses, and I did a four-month adult work re-entry course. But I can't apply for jobs that require evening or weekend work because childcare centres are not open. These are times when you need to be absolutely certain of who has your child."

She says she would take any suitable job to stop her daughter growing up with a 'DPB mentality'. There are young women out there who don't know what they are capable of and who do not spend their [DPB] wisely.

"But I am not one of them. Solo parents should not be forced into situations when they are already trying their hardest."

Brash suggests child support payments from non-custodial parents could be more rigidly enforced to provide more income for solo parents - however most of those interviewed took a dim view of this.

"With their inefficiency, stuff-ups and demands for income evidence that they then ignore anyway, it's a fulltime job just dealing with the Inland Revenue Department," says one mother.

Julie says solo parents who want work need the support of employers, not the ultimatums of politicians.

"I didn't plan to be solo and I lie awake wondering what will happen to [my daughter] if I get sick or die. I want us to live with pride and dignity, not have our lives constantly scrutinised."

What help is out there?

What's out there for solo parents who want work?

* The Childcare Subsidy programme provides financial assistance to low-to-middle-income families with dependent children under the age of 5 to obtain access to childcare services.

* The Out of School Care and Recreational (OSCAR) subsidy helps low-to-middle-income families to pay for before-school and after-school programmes and school holiday programmes for children aged 5 to 13 inclusive.

* Many free adult education programmes and training incentive allowances are available to beneficiaries - information is available at Work and Income.

* Work and Income administers two self employment schemes for beneficiaries - the Enterprise Allowance and the Business Training and Advice Grant.

* The Government is examining subsidised childcare for working parents including subsidies for home-based care and increases in minimum paid parental leave.

* A National led Government would change the rules so Work and Income could ask if a beneficiary can read or write - beneficiaries would then get help with literacy if needed.

* Some employers provide free or subsidised creche services.

* Job sharing - where the hours of one job are divided between two people - can work well for solo parents. With present labour shortages, there are suggestions employers will become more flexible and offer job sharing and "glide time" - where a worker does a required number of consecutive hours but chooses start and finish times.