Bag's Rants

Still targeting the weak.

I notice we are now looking at single parents in our clampdown on social services. Read here.

This one has always confused me. I live in an area that used to have a nickname 'pram city' due to the number of young mums here so I have seen the single parent families issue at close hand.

Often ill-educated they see getting pregnant as a viable career. They get a council home, money to spend and free time to do what they want.

On the other hand we offer then slave wages to which they have to commit to at least 20+ hours a week. By the time they have paid baby sitters, travel, rent and their council tax which they are now liable for, they are worse off than being on the social.

Paying tax credits and other such financial incentives was seen as a success because some, not all, went back to work. That was most likely to be the ones with local jobs and parents or grandparents to babysit while they were out. It actually gave them extra money in their pocket. The others however would still have been worse off.

Now the intent is to bully them back to work. They will probably get a few back to work which will be applauded. Possibly because of the extra jobs this will create in interrogators. The social impact of putting single parents under such stress with nowhere to turn will be ignored.

Yet another PR exercise.

posted by Bag @ 11:13 am