Financial support will be extended for single parents in Tuesday’s federal budget.
The cut-off for the parenting payment will be raised from when the child turns eight to when they turn 14.
Parents will be able to receive $922.10 a fortnight until their youngest turns 14.
Changes in the budget will also allow for parents to no longer have to transfer to JobSeeker when their youngest child turns eight.
The changes will come into effect from September 20, with eligible single parents on JobSeeker set to get a $176.90 increase in pay per fortnight.
The raise in the age cut-off will cost $1.9 billion to the federal budget through to the 2026/27 financial year.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the changes to single parent payments would bring more stability.
“What that will do is to make sure that women, in particular, but also fathers in situations of raising children by themselves, can have that sense of security, that children as well can be looked after,” he said in Perth.
“We want to look after single parents because we know that the role that they play in raising their children is such a priority for them and they’re deserving of more support.”
While the age threshold had been lifted, the women’s equality task force had urged the government to go further and raise it to when the youngest child turns 16.
The threshold was originally 16 until changes made by the Howard government reduced it to eight.
Mr Albanese said the age cap of 14 was the right balance.
“Fourteen is a period in which a student starts to gain more independence, doesn’t need the same level of support at home that a younger child does. Eight was far too low,” he said.
“An eight-year-old needs mum or dad or their carer to cook them dinner, to look after them. A 14-year-old starts to … move into that change into adulthood.”
Nationals leader David Littleproud said the changes to payments needed to be examined in relation to the bigger budget picture.
“Obviously, the government’s made it clear they wanted to help those that are on social security payments to keep pace with inflation, even though there are indexed movements on that every six to 12 months,” he told Sky News.
“We’ll look at it in the totality … and understanding who’s paying for it, because invariably it’s going to be regional Australia.”
Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said the increase to the age threshold would provide a safety net to single parent families.
“No parent should have to choose between meeting their children’s needs and their family’s safety or economic security,” she said.
“Reduced opportunities to participate in paid work, coupled with the additional costs associated with raising children, make single parent households more vulnerable to economic insecurity.”
– AAP
