Help for solo parents

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34131, 19 April 1976, Page 12

Help for solo parents

Three weeks after the Minister of Social Welfare (Mr Walker) reminded solo parents of the rules for accepting the domestic purposes benefit some of the dust of controversy has settled. He was not announcing any new rules when he spoke on the subject; he was restating the rules that have applied since the benefit was introduced by the Labour Government in 1973. “ The important point ”, said Mr Walker, “is not the extent or nature of the financial support of the solo parent by a man with whom she is living, but whether the couple have merged their lives to the extent that it would be reasonable to treat them no better and no worse than if they were legally married This is a fair interpretation of the act and, in spite of much criticism of Mr Walker’s reminder of the rules, no critic appears to have suggested that the rules should be changed. No-one, indeed, could seriously suggest that this special benefit for solo parents should be paid to a parent who has remarried or has, as the act says, “ entered into a relationship in the nature of marriage ”. Applying the rules is another matter. The point at which a parent enters into such a relationship will often be difficult to determine: this is especially so when a solo parent has no formal or firm commitment to a new, supporting partner. Trusting entirely to all beneficiaries’ sense of responsibility to forgo the benefit when circumstances have changed to “ a relationship in the nature of marriage ” has obviously not been sufficient Policing the payment of benefits may be a distasteful business; but, when the voluntary termination of benefits has clearly failed, some kind of check is inescapable. Because the benefit is a new one the Department of Social Welfare may well have to revise the tests that it applies. Certainly its judgments on the changed circumstances of a beneficiary should be made by the most experienced of its officers. Apart from airing the need for the fair and proper application of the benefit—and of all other social security benefits—the debate has reinforced the work that the department is already doing to improve the collection of maintenance payments. The obligations of marriage and parenthood are accepted by most people; the State cannot lightly shoulder the responsibilities of those who do not accept them. The need for benefits must be shown; automatic subsidies for some parents and not for others cannot be justified. The benefit for solo parents is essentially a benefit for the care of children. The first responsibility for the care of children lies with parents—and parents generally would object very strongly if this were altered. Those people w’ho are urging the departments of Justice and Social Welfare to improve the arrangements for fixing and collecting maintenance allowances are working on a sound principle. Improvements in these arrangements will probably do much more to correct anomalies in the payment of benefits than has the reminder from Mr Walker.