Shared care has solo mum out in the cold
Amother of two says she is struggling to make ends meet because the sole parent benefit was awarded to her ex-partner – despite them sharing custody 50/50.
She said she had repeatedly been told by work and Income staff that the benefit was allocated on a ‘‘first come, first served’’ basis – and because he applied for it first, there was nothing they can do.
That has left her paying $80 a month in child support and living with her parents to save rent while her ex receives up to $375 a week in sole parent support. It was a ‘‘sickening’’ system, she said: ‘‘It favours one parent over the other and it is very, very hard for the other one to keep above board.’’
Only one parent can claim sole parent support. Where care is split equally, who gets it is supposed to be decided by Work and Income based on who takes greater responsibility for things like buying clothes and doing the school run.
If Work and Income can’t work it out, it is left up to the parents to decide. But the mother said that was not what happened when she split from her partner almost five years ago. He started claiming the benefit without her knowing, she said, and she did not realise only one of them was entitled to it.
The part-time job she has
alongside studying does not bring in much – about $350 a week. She gets $170 a week in family tax credit and in-work tax credit, plus an accommodation supplement of $100. At themoment she is also receiving $40 a week in temporary additional support to help pay the bills. But she has been knocked back when she has asked for other support: ‘‘They just tell me that because he is on the sole parent benefit, I don’t get any assistance.’’
It was the same story when she applied recently for the Out of School Care and Recreation (Oscar) subsidy, so she could put her daughters in a holiday programme.
She was told she needed her expartner to sign a declaration saying she is the primary parent, despite providing work and Income with a court order showing care is shared 50/50. She said her ex-partner would not be willing to sign that over to her because it would impact his benefit. She also was not able to ask him because they are not on speaking terms, saying there was a history of abuse. Locked out of holiday childcare, she said her dad was having to take time off to look after her daughters while she works and studies.
Ricardo Menendez-March from Auckland Action Against Poverty, who is also running for election for the Green Party in maungakiekie, said the current system ‘‘creates financial imbalances’’ between caregivers. ‘‘The benefit system is not structured for co-parenting.’’
He said a better system would be a ‘‘parent benefit’’ rather than the sole parent benefit, whereby caregivers were allocated adequate income support independently of their relationship status.
Kay Read, from theministry of Social Development, said the ministry understood ‘‘the difficulty facing parents under the benefit system where they share the care of children’’.
She indicated changes were coming to how shared care arrangements were recognised in the welfare system, saying that as part of the overhaul of the welfare system the ministry would be providing advice to the Minister for Social Development on this.
She said if the client was not happy with Work and Income’s decision, she was entitled to apply for a review.
‘‘This process allows for independent consideration of whether decisions are made in line with the appropriate legislation.’’