Benefit sanctions see 17,700 kids lose up to $28 a week

Single parents are increasingly having their benefit penalised up to $28 a week per child, all because they refuse to name the other parent. The Green Party says the Government is using poverty as a threat, but the Government says the longstanding law encourages the other parent to take financial responsibility. Nationally, 17,700 children are being penalised by Work and Income reducing a benefit. That’s a fifth of the 62,000 parents who receive the single parent benefit.