End the Young Parent Penalty

30 charities call on UK Government to “end the young parent penalty” in Universal Credit this Mother’s Day.

A reduction in benefits for young single parents under the Universal Credit system based on their age is “unfair and unjustified”, according to Scottish and UK charities who are calling for an urgent reversal of the policy.

The campaign to “End the Young Parent Penalty” has been launched by One Parent Families Scotland in time for Mother’s Day, with the aim of highlighting the inequality faced by young mums.

People under 25 are entitled to a lower allowance of benefits than people aged 25 and over, but before Universal Credit was introduced there was a specific exemption for single parents in recognition of the cost of caring for a child alone.

Under Universal Credit the exemption has been removed and young single parent families moving onto the new benefit are up to £66.13 worse off each month as a result.

With the support of nearly 30 other organisations working with women, children, families and disabled people, One Parent Families Scotland is urging the government to restore the adult rate of benefits to single parents under 25.

Our Interim Strategic Manager, Laura Millar, said:

“The cost of raising a child does not differ based on the age of the parent and our welfare system should reflect this. We have been supporting families in Fife since 1987 and, from experience, we know that young parents are often a particularly vulnerable group. The events of the last year have been extraordinary, and unfortunately the impact has often been felt hardest by the most vulnerable.

“Many young lone parent families already face challenges and stigma and we cannot accept that their income is different simply because of their age. A change to this anomaly in Universal Credit will alleviate some of the financial pressures that young lone parent families face and help parents give their child the best possible start in life.”

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One Parent Families Scotland Chief Executive Satwat Rehman said: “We all want all children to have the best start in life – but this isn’t possible when there is inequality built into the safety net which is meant to be there to keep families afloat when times are hard.

“Denying young single parents the same level of social security penalises children based on their parent’s age and pushes young families into poverty. We, and many parents we work with, think this is unfair, unjustified, and needs to be reversed as a matter of urgency.

“Children in single parent families are already twice as likely to be living in poverty than other children - the Young Parent Penalty removes support from those who need it most.

“This Mother's Day, we’re urging the government to take action so that no mother is left struggling to make ends meet for her child based on an arbitrary and unjust inequality in the social security system.”

Young single parents who are receiving Income Support are moved to Universal Credit automatically when their child turns five. Families in this situation are facing a drop of up to 20% in financial support when this happens because they are offered a lower rate under the new system based on their age.

Rehman added: “In most cases, the young parents we work with have been given no warning that they will be receiving less money after the move to Universal Credit. This puts young families in an incredibly difficult position because they are offered no chance to prepare for the loss.”

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To learn everything about the campaign click here