Labour looking to 'positive parenting' as way out of welfare

Labour's deputy leader and social development spokeswoman, Annette King. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Labour Party is contemplating expanding the range and number of "positive parenting" programmes for teenage mothers and fathers to try to break the cycle of poverty in which second and sometimes third generations of families rely on welfare payments.

Putting the needs of children at the centre of its fresh approach to social development policy, Labour is also looking at increasing access to early childhood education and expanding the amount of time people can take paid parental leave.

"If you put child development and parenting at the centre of your policy then you are already starting to help children out of poverty," Labour's deputy leader and social development spokeswoman, Annette King, told the Herald.

The new policy is working its way through Labour's policy-formation process just as the Government-established welfare working group is starting to focus on recommendations to cut long-term "benefit dependency".

More detail of Labour's new approach is expected from Mrs King at her party's annual conference in October.

Her speech then may define the battleground for the debate on welfare benefits which look set to to become a leading issue at next year's election.

Mrs King said that since going into Opposition, Labour had done a lot of work on inter-generational welfare dependence. "You have got to put a big emphasis on teen parenting and teenage pregnancies. That is where the inter-generational stuff starts."

The results of research printed in the discussion paper issued by the welfare working group last week shows that people of 16 and 17 granted a benefit are most likely to spend more than five of the next 10 years on it.

Mrs King said long-term research had provided compelling evidence that early childhood education was a critical factor.

"We are looking at the whole question of access to early childhood education."

Mrs King criticised the working group's discussion document, describing its estimates of the future costs of the benefit system as scaremongering.

"Stop talking about beneficiary dependency. Start talking about how we support beneficiaries who are bringing up children so they so can get back into workforce."

A debate solely about getting beneficiaries into paid work without looking at how parents looked after their children "missed the mark".

Mrs King said Labour was looking at changing the focus of the domestic purposes benefit in helping sole parents to return to the workforce. Unlike the Government which will now work-test sole parents when their youngest child reaches the age of 5, Labour did not believe there was some "magical age".

"We are saying you should start preparing people on the DPB as early as you can by looking at treating education as being part of being engaged in the workforce."

Mrs King said cutting beneficiaries' weekly payments in half - one of the sanctions available to Work and Income for those on the DPB who refuse to look for paid work - was not going to make those people better parents.