Supporting parents into work critical

New research released today shows the importance of the Labor Government’s commitment to supporting jobless families back into work.

The report, Parental Joblessness and financial disadvantage and the wellbeing of parents and children, by the Australian Institute of Family Studies, provides an insight into the links between parents’ employment and the wellbeing of children.

The report reveals that joblessness and short part-time hours of work result in lower levels of wellbeing for parents and for children, compared with families working full-time or long part-time hours.

Jobless families on average rated more poorly on demographic characteristics such as education, health, and access to basic services-than families working full-time or long part-time hours.

The Labor Government is delivering record levels of assistance to help people back into work to secure a better future for themselves and their children.

Under our $3 billion Building Australia’s Future Workforce package, we’re working in 10 areas of high disadvantage around Australia to trial a new approach to tackle welfare dependency and high unemployment.

This major package of reforms is one of the largest training and workforce participation packages in Australia’s history, helping people overcome barriers to education and work, and give children a positive start in life.

Under these measures, jobless parents and teenage parents are required to attend interviews and workshops provided by Centrelink to develop participation plans to help them finish their education and remain engaged and job ready to give them the best possible chance of finding work.

We have provided parents in these locations with access to extra child care assistance, training places, and expanded early childhood and parenting courses to support them out of unemployment and into long-term, sustainable work.

We are helping parents in some of Australia’s most disadvantaged areas build a better future for themselves and their children.

Only Labor will make the responsible decisions needed to build a strong, smarter and fairer future.

You can access the Australian Institute of Families Studies’ report at http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/node/1581