UK: Working mothers to get payments from government if they earn less than their husbands

Submitted by Matt on Tue, 2008-06-24 03:48

Story here. Excerpt:

'Mothers will be offered £40 a week to go back to work under plans unveiled by Gordon Brown.

The scheme would give a couple with children £40 if one parent works and the other, usually the mother, agrees to look for a job. If both work the couple would get £80.
...
But critics said the £40 payments did too little. Chris Grayling, Tory work and pensions spokesman said: ‘Gordon Brown just doesn’t understand that what Britain needs is not yet more pointless tinkering with the benefits system for working mothers but real action to tackle family breakdown in a nation where millions of people are trapped in benefit dependency.’'

Like0 Dislike0

Comments

On face value this sounds like it is yet one more example of sexism run amok in Britain (something we have been hearing a lot about recently). On the upside though it seems like this is actually an example of conditional welfare which I am strongly in favor of implementing here in the US. Far too much welfare is provided to families who have no hope or desire of going to work to support their families (and get off the dole). Conditional welfare would provide that incentive. So while it looks like the majority of the recipients may be women - which is debatable - in reality the underlying principle is spot on: instead of getting something for nothing such as in our current ineffective welfare system, this updated system would provide incentives for the parent to get back to work where she (or he) belongs.

Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by lance on Tue, 2008-06-24 15:34