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12/10/2006
Government announces help for lone parents
Lone parents are to receive an extra £20 on top of their benefits if they take active steps towards work, under a pilot scheme being rolled out next year.
Under the scheme, lone parents with children aged 11 and over will be eligible for a Work Related Activity Premium (WRAP) worth £20 a week if they agree to take the necessary steps to prepare themselves for entering and competing in the workplace.
The WRAP will be supported by the introduction of quarterly Work Focused Interviews (WFI) with a personal adviser where a plan of action is agreed that will help them make that step off benefits and into work.
The schemes will be introduced from April 2007 in the New Deal Plus for Lone Parents Pilot areas. These include Bradford, Sandwell and Dudley, Leicestershire, North London, South East London, South East Wales and Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders.
Speaking at the Inclusion and Child Poverty Action Group conference, Employment and Welfare Reform Minister Jim Murphy said: "Helping lone parents find employment is a vitally important part of our wider strategy to eradicating child poverty. Children of lone parents are three times more likely to live in poverty.
"Nine out of ten parents say they want to work, either now or in the future, and work-focused interviews ensure they all know about the range of opportunities available to them. The introduction of the Work Related Activity Premium pilot will enable us to test if the extra financial assistance will encourage lone parents with older children to actively take steps to make the transition back into the work place."
(KMcA/SP)
Under the scheme, lone parents with children aged 11 and over will be eligible for a Work Related Activity Premium (WRAP) worth £20 a week if they agree to take the necessary steps to prepare themselves for entering and competing in the workplace.
The WRAP will be supported by the introduction of quarterly Work Focused Interviews (WFI) with a personal adviser where a plan of action is agreed that will help them make that step off benefits and into work.
The schemes will be introduced from April 2007 in the New Deal Plus for Lone Parents Pilot areas. These include Bradford, Sandwell and Dudley, Leicestershire, North London, South East London, South East Wales and Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders.
Speaking at the Inclusion and Child Poverty Action Group conference, Employment and Welfare Reform Minister Jim Murphy said: "Helping lone parents find employment is a vitally important part of our wider strategy to eradicating child poverty. Children of lone parents are three times more likely to live in poverty.
"Nine out of ten parents say they want to work, either now or in the future, and work-focused interviews ensure they all know about the range of opportunities available to them. The introduction of the Work Related Activity Premium pilot will enable us to test if the extra financial assistance will encourage lone parents with older children to actively take steps to make the transition back into the work place."
(KMcA/SP)
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More Choice To Help Lone Parents Find The Right Job
Thousands of lone parents will be given extra support to help them prepare for work under new benefit rules, which come into force today. Lone parents of children aged 12 plus will no longer be able to make a new or repeat claim for Income Support solely on the basis of being a lone parent.
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Plans Announced To Make Young People Work For Benefits
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Official figures show big rise in employment rate
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Official figures show big rise in employment rate
Employment levels are up, and the number of people claiming out-of-work benefits is down, according to official figures out today. The number of people in work in the UK was 28.3 million in the three months to July 2004, up 179,000 in a year. Official unemployment figures show a fall of 87,000 to 1.41 million over the same period.
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