Most Sole Parents Welfare Dependent

Figures from the March 2001 Census show that over 80 percent of female sole parents rely on the state for their income, Lindsay Mitchell, petitioner for a Parliamentary review of the DPB, said today.

"Of the 117,000 women heading a family with dependent children, around 93,500 were on the DPB. A further 13,000 sole parents rely on other benefits they qualify for, such as the emergency and unemployment benefits".

"Men fare better as sole parents in terms of being able to provide for their families independently. Only 39 percent of the 23,000 sole fathers with dependent children (under 18) were on the DPB."

"With the average total time spent on the DPB approaching seven years this 'legal entitlement' is becoming enormously expensive. The average payout over this period would buy the taxpayer a modest home freehold. Instead that taxpayer is having difficulty meeting his own mortgage repayments whilst he funds a family that chooses welfare."

"The majority of single parents are on welfare; the majority made the choices that led to their circumstances. How can it be fair that they enjoy a freedom of choice denied to the working taxpayer? There is no morality in the present system and the average working kiwi is getting fed up with it," Mitchell finishes.

Lindsay Mitchell

Petitioner for a Parliamentary review of the DPB

ph/fx 04 562 7944

e-mail mailto:dandl.mitchell@clear.net.nz

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