Baby bonus called crust for starving

The Commissioner for Children, Roger McClay, has criticised the Government's $1200 baby bonus for lower-income new parents for failing to help some children who may need it most.

The former National MP yesterday called the $150-a-week payments for eight weeks a small improvement, even if the new benefit was much less generous than the Alliance's 12-week paid parental leave bill.

"A starving man is always grateful for a crust. In that regard it's better than what was in place before," Mr McClay said.

But he criticised the fact that children would miss out if their parents were beneficiaries and that there was no obligation for either working parent to stay home and look after the newborn baby.

The Government has also released more information about the new benefit. Some of the main points are:

• Payments will continue if the baby dies during the eight-week period.

• Multiple births mean a payment for each baby.

• In adoption cases, payments go to either the birth mother or adoptive mother, depending on who is caring for the baby.

• Families must apply for the tax credit as an eight-week payment within three months or wait to get it at the end of the year.

Parliament unanimously passed the parental tax credit legislation yesterday, even though Labour, the Alliance and NZ First strongly criticised the bill. -Andrew Laxon