tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7303409391905322366.post6738270189238729835..comments2023-07-03T23:42:08.436+10:00Comments on Rave, by Dave: January changes for single parentsDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08602009825603062665noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7303409391905322366.post-91392115339990439322013-02-25T21:21:19.688+11:002013-02-25T21:21:19.688+11:00I am a single working mother who has just experien...I am a single working mother who has just experienced the transition from PPS and onto Newstart. I have been working 54 hours per fortnight for the last 5 years and have been paying off a mortgage and solely supporting my 3 children still at home. I receive no maintenance as the father (ex) is on a disability support pension due to an acquired brain injury.<br />I have 2 children that have special needs. One is older but needs to be at home due to mental health issues and this is ongoing and heartbreaking as a mother. I also have a 16 year old daughter who was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder with a background of learning difficulties and as a result of surgery to one of her eyes which was meant to make life a little easier for her has been left with permanent double vision. This cannot be corrected as they had "missed the fact that she had only a single range of vision", she is adorable but extremely difficult to manage at times due to her impulsivity, poor processing of information, poor concentration etc, also heartbreaking for a mother.<br /> I also have another older son who is a productive worker holding down two jobs and a 12 year old daughter who has just started high school. I work in a community service role and love my job and give 100% both at home and at work. <br />Often times it is a struggle on your own and you come home from work at times so exhausted but just have to switch into your other role as homemaker and carer. Life has been tough at times but I have always been resilient and managed up until now. The added stress of losing over $4500 per year on an already minimal income, rising bills and the inability to work any extra hours due to the demanding dual roles that I have is enough to make our world unravel entirely. The home I have worked so hard to provide and give us all that bit of security, sense of pride and achievement, the home that I have hung on tightly to and has been an example to show my children what can be achieved if you have a dream and work hard, our home is at risk of being lost. If I had another 4 years as I thought I had until my youngest turns 16, we may have had the time to reduce the mortgage some, slowly do some of those repairs that are required to make it more marketable to sell and downsize if necessary to keep our own roof over our head. I have been punished for being a hard worker and the amount of hours required to work to make up the shortfall would be an impossibility in my situation. I have gone from being a proud hard working mother to one that is having difficulty sleeping at night, increasing anxiety levels and feeling totally defeated as I cannot see a way clear of our predicament.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7303409391905322366.post-35490027358625099182013-01-03T01:58:16.962+11:002013-01-03T01:58:16.962+11:00This is my situation exactly, I could not have exp...This is my situation exactly, I could not have explained it any better! Thank you for so articulately outlining the situation of a sole parent studying at university and the effect it has on our families. <br /><br />I was transferred from Parenting Payment Single to Newstart in July 2008 and have struggled immensely since then. However, I am proud that I am showing my boys that you can achieve anything, even against the greatest odds.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7303409391905322366.post-16163996189238293922012-12-21T19:29:56.050+11:002012-12-21T19:29:56.050+11:00I am a part-time single working parent of one chil...I am a part-time single working parent of one child,( I HAD WORKED 16 YEARS FULL TIME PRIOR TO THE BIRTH OF MY LOVELY SON) it is already a struggle paying private rent and getting myself deeper into debt but this government cut will really put us in poverty. Why the government want to hurt the parent who works and takes care of the child I do not know. What I would suggest is that the government chases the other parent who works self employed , cash in hand jobs, does not pay their taxes and does not pay child support. My ex husband is one of these tax and child support dodgers. The government would be chasing the right people then instead of the ones doing the right thing by their children and society. While I work and take care of our son my ex earns less than me ON PAPER and works six days a week on $50 per hour and kept the marital home why because he can because the government allows this behaviour.......THIS GOES ON MORE THAN THE GOVERNMENT WANT TO ADMIT....ITS EASIER TO REMOVE THE BENEFIT FROM THE CARER THAN TO CHASE THE TAX AND CHILD SUPPORT DODGERS.......UUUMMMMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7303409391905322366.post-56769670472512777532012-12-14T12:27:55.480+11:002012-12-14T12:27:55.480+11:00I had a bit of a look at the student issue in an e...I had a bit of a look at the student issue in an earlier posting (see http://ravebydave.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/what-choice-single-parent-students.html ). The choices are certainly complicated, even without the added stress of financial loss.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08602009825603062665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7303409391905322366.post-58514938417597004042012-12-14T10:23:58.877+11:002012-12-14T10:23:58.877+11:00There are a number of single parents who are pursu...There are a number of single parents who are pursuing university degrees, who are going to suffer as a result of the transfer from PPS to NSA. Some are opting to abandon their studies at this point, in order to find jobs. This almost certainly means the HECS-HELP debts already incurred will not be paid back, as it is unlikely many of these single parents will be able to find work that pays well enough to reach the limit at which repayment of HECS-HELP starts.<br /><br />Those who opt to struggle through to the end will be living (as will their children) in extreme poverty, as no allowance is made for exempting those in full-time study, and they will suffer roughly $140 per fortnight loss of income support. And studying full-time, as well as raising children, makes it almost impossible to find any kind of part-time work to supplement income. Particularly given the hours required as has been examined in the above article.<br /><br />Many of these parents are studying in areas such as education and health; both because there are good employment prospects at the end, and likelihood of above average incomes. This means they are far more likely to have no need of income support at all once they graduate and enter employment (unlike those parents on fairly low incomes), and of course, will earn enough to repay their tuition debts. <br /><br />In addition to the financial aspect, these parents are setting an excellent example to their children of hard work, determination, and perseverance in the face of almost overwhelming difficulties, in order to achieve the goal of not merely employment, but employment that will be of benefit not just to themselves, or their children, but also to the wider community. And yet, the current government believes that any parent who is not engaged in employment at present is setting a bad example to their children? Surely, parents who are seeking to improve their employment prospects through higher education should be lauded, and given assistance to achieve those goals, both for the benefit of themselves, and in time, that of the wider community.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7303409391905322366.post-21700725765331373362012-12-13T23:15:18.533+11:002012-12-13T23:15:18.533+11:00This is all on the presumption that the part-time ...This is all on the presumption that the part-time jobs will be there for the PPS parents to get. Total Job losses for 2012 is around 72,000 to dat and thats what I saw a ABS statistics (I could be wrong of course because figures like that are always fudged by governments) on those same ABS figures I think its was somewhere around 22,000 jobs supposedly created by the government ( they take credit but its the pvt sector) That said the shortfall is 50,000 added people on Newstart this year alone. <br /><br />The percentage of jobs that will fall within school hours and suit single parents will make up a very small part of the jobs needed. It is illegal to leave children of 8 years at home alons so we have to assume that child care will be needed for the full hours worked and as wee know these centers do not generally run after 7 pm at night what does a single parent do if their job requires work hours after that time. <br /><br />The other factor that will come into play is that once the initial part time jobs that do fit school hours, those parents looking for jobs will be forced to take what jobs they can making life even worse as so many companies now require staff to work a 7 day roster, ruling out weekends with the kids in many many cases. The choice will no longer be with the parent simply because centerlink will require you to work or be looking for work you will have to take a job that will not suit your parenting roll. <br /><br />To cap this off many parents currently have 6, 8 and 10 hour jobs that suit perfectly their life style, income requirements and hours they can obtain from their bosses. These people are constantly harassed by centerlink to look fo jobs which total 15 to 30 hours dependent on their situation. Once a person enters part time work there should be no requirement to do minimum hours that would eleveate the stress of being hounded to get a second job or get another job to fit centerlinks inflexible 15 hour requirement. <br /><br />As a last word I would like to say that there has been no real system for this change. Facts and graphs sort it out for those who understand them but mean nothing when you open your wallet at the check out and there is not enough in it to pay for what you need. all grand fathered PPS recipients should have been offered retraining, courses and additional job search assistance in the 6 months before their change to newstart. That would have been a true assist back to work for every person on PPS before the change over, this would have allowed thes epeople time to transition properly and gain gainful employment. Thank you for your time Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7303409391905322366.post-26490097748231878822012-12-13T19:31:50.720+11:002012-12-13T19:31:50.720+11:00Thankyou for posting all this David, it shows pret...Thankyou for posting all this David, it shows pretty clearly how mean the whole thing is. It makes no sense at all that PPS recipients who are already working are going to be penalised so harshly. The majority will have few means to remedy the situation as they will already have assessed how much care their children need for them and be working hours to suit - in other words, I believe if they could be working more hours then they would already be doing so. Thomidoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12587948034193969435noreply@blogger.com