 News
8th September 2008
Calls for tax 'perks' for stay-at-home mumsMothers
should be given financial help to encourage them to stay at home with their young
children, according to an influential Tory think-tank. The study, which
is likely to be read closely by David Cameron, said too many parents who wish
to look after their children are being forced back to work by financial pressures.
Society paid the price later with less well-adjusted children, it said.
It calls for radical changes to the tax and benefit system, including paying
out more child benefits to parents of children up to the age of three. This
could be worth more than £500 a month to mothers who choose to stay at home. However,
if they do take advantage of the extra benefits, they will receive less when their
children are older. The proposal was made by the Centre for Social Justice,
a think-tank led by Iain Duncan Smith. The former Conservative leader claimed
the Government was prioritising paid work over child rearing and 'sowing the seeds
of later unhappiness'. He said: 'We need to level the financial playing
field for parents. 'The current system pressurises mothers - and it is mostly
mothers - into going back to work soon after their children are born. 'Yet
the research shows clearly the seeds of later unhappiness and anti-social behaviour
by young people are often sown by the failure of parents to form a close loving
relationship with their children. 'Society is paying a high price for the
quick fix of getting mothers back to work too quickly. 'We need a fairer
system in which the financial sacrifice of giving up work is offset with extra
help by the tax and benefit system.' Although the report - called The Next
Generation - praised the Government's Sure Start programme, it said the scheme
has moved from being about helping parents with child rearing to encouraging them
to return to work early. The report was compiled by a panel of experts
led by family researcher Dr Samantha Callon. She cited research that shows
children who grow up without being soothed or calmed by their parents when they
are babies are more likely to be unable to cope with stress properly, making them
prone to anxiety and depression later in life. A poll commissioned for
the report found that 84 per cent of parents felt the Government should do more
to support parents staying at home to look after their children. More than
four in five parents said financial reasons forced them back to work after their
children were born. The survey of nearly 3,000 parents or expectant parents,
and more than 2,000 other adults, found around 70 per cent believed parents were
'encouraged' to put their children into day-care and return to work. Among
the 11 policy recommendations were calls for child care tax credits to be changed
to allow the payment of relatives who care for children. Where
to next? | 
