Discrimination alleged

Press, 16 July 1983, Page 14

Discrimination alleged

PA Auckland Children of solo mothers who have not proven paternity are being discriminated against by the Social Welfare Department, according to the Auckland District Council of Social Services.

The council is making a submission to the Human Rights Commission alleging the department is contravening the spirit of the Status of Children Act. The act declares that all children are of equal status and aims to remove legal

disabilities of children born out of wedlock, says a spokesman for the council, Ms Julie Maddison. She believes the department defeats the act through its policy of giving the domestic purposes benefit to a woman who has named the father of her child or children but not to a woman unable or unwilling to do so. A mother who has not proven paternity receives the emergency maintenance allowance of $l6 a week less than the domestic purposes benefit. Although both have an allowable income of $l3OO a year, a woman on the E.M.A. cannot earn more than $25 a week. Ms Maddison said a woman might be the victim of rape or for some other reason might not know who the father of her child was or she might have been intimidated by the father into not revealing his iden-

tity. Last month there were 45,096 solo parents on the domestic purposes benefit compared with 4511 on the emergency maintenance allowance.