Thank God we’re finally going to cut poor teenage mothers off welfare if they won’t find the magical time they don’t have to do Year 12, so their children can grow up in cardboard boxes while their mums go to school. And until they get the message, they and their children can starve. It’s an important message – YOU’RE BLOODY FAILURES IN LIFE YOU LOSERS GO BACK TO SCHOOL YOUR BABIES DON’T NEED YOU BECAUSE YOU’RE PROBABLY CRAP MUMS ANYWAY – and if we have to sacrifice the health or lives of some poor kids (infants and teen mums) to make it clear, then that’s what we’ll do.
Young mums in NSW suburbs Bankstown, Wyong and Shellharbour will be among the first in Australia forced to take part in a federal government trial of 10 disadvantaged areas that will strip them of their benefits if they don’t finish Year 12.
About 11,000 teenage parents receive a parenting payment worth up to $641 a fortnight and 90 per cent of them have not completed Year 12.
Under the government’s welfare crackdown, teenage parents will be required to attend six-monthly interviews with Centrelink once their baby is six months old and, on the child’s first birthday, will have to have a plan for completion of school.
Serves them right for living in a disadvantaged area. They should be grateful it’s not as disadvantaged as the aboriginal communities in Central Australia. At least we’re not telling them how to spend their meagre Centrelink payment.
You know what I heard on the deranged right-wing radio I spend a lot of time listening to because I enjoy hating the people it claims are destroying this country (particularly the evil lying Prime lying Minister LIAR LIAR LIAR) because, obviously, they despise us and don’t share our values? Well, I heard that young girls – sluts, the lot of them – deliberately get pregnant for the luxurious welfare that’s made single mothers on Centrelink famous as the most privileged people in our community! It’s true! Someone said it and provided no evidence for this frankly absurd claim, and I believe them!
Those darn people poorer than me. Man, it’s just so satisfying making their lives more difficult, isn’t it?
Moved On 
These same people complain about how onerous child support is, because of course, the girl chooses and makes sure she gets pregnant so that she can be a burden on both the State AND the poor innocent guy.
I still have an issue with child support. I’d rather that once people split we keep their finances separate – it just leads to more nastiness between separated parents – and we make sure that the sole parent pension is decent. I don’t like there being a state agency to enforce the inequalities between single parents – got someone we can chase? Then we’ll screw them for you. But if you don’t – well, too bad, live on nothing. The existence of the CSA helps them underfund the SPP.
Get rid of child support and fund all kids and sole parents properly out of general taxation.
While I agree that the single parent pension should not be diminished due to the CSA; there is a mentality that men are not responsble for pregnancy. We see it in anti-abortion stances, we see it relating to anti-pregnancy measures (eg condom usage attitudes) and we see it again re: CSA. Men need to take full responsiblity for their part in producing a child, just as a woman should take into account a man’s view if considering abortion ie if she doesn’t want to keep the child and he does, this should be considered providing, of course, she can bind him to that decision. Men just walk and leave the woman with the child – personal responsbility should be a liability in this case.
It says that the mothers “will have to have a plan for completion of school”, I wonder if the plan can be ‘When baby starts school I will finish school’?
The only other way I can see the girls finishing school is if day care is provided, I know that some schools in Sydney’s west have programs specifically for young mums that allow them to bring the baby to school with them, but if there is no option like these nearby what are they supposed to do with the child when they are getting this education?
This (so far) seems to assume that there is affordable day care or a friend/grandparent nearby that will look after the caring duties which is not always the case…
I’ve actually got no real issue with the scheme overall. Forcing them into education to maybe go on to achieve something isn’t such a bad idea. Unfortunately it isn’t a “one size fits all” situation, and from what I’ve read it doesn’t seem to cater for individual circumstances.
Thought you may be interested in this post. Feel free to link. http://www.centreblog.com.au/2012/04/10/teenage-mothers/
One thing I want to know is, what exactly are the options for these Mums, and how flexible are they?
Yes, education is absolutely vital in this day and age, but even if a woman finishes year 12, there’s no grantee that they will enter education at a tertiary level. While I agree that education is important, I don’t agree that forcing an individual into a situation that she doesn’t feel ready for because she wants to be there for her child is the answer either. Child care is at a shortage in many areas and not always affordable. Are there provisions for the Mum if she’s developed antenatal or postnatal depression? Can she choose when she feels ready to study, for instance, like when her child turns 4 and goes to preschool, or 5 and goes to Kindergarten? Are there part time options? Can she work if she wants to? It’s my view that even one or two subjects at a time is still working toward a certificate, but even this should be Mum’s choice. Parenting payment is paid up until the age of 6 for other parents (sadly this includes sole parents…another story in it’s self!); so why then, is this not so for a young woman if she doesn’t have her HSC? Why should a child be deprived because of this fact. This policy is a blatant breech of human rights.
As a trial, are we also to assume that the code of ethics is being followed, or are there compensations for the code `a participant has the right to withdraw from participation in the study at ANY time’?
Are all of the answers to these questions available and easily accessible to the public or to academic institutions? Where?
These are big changes being proposed, and people have every right to be concerned because it is human nature to fear the unknown.
I support the idea of everyone making a contribution to society, but no-one should underestimate the contribution of parenthood. If this policy has flexible solutions to help women into education, and public information about what options they have, then there’s a better chance of the policy gaining the support of the people it will affect. At the moment though, it couldn’t be much more ambiguous.
Teenage mothers are one of the most deserving of centrelink payments in my opinion. Despite whethere the occurance of their infants was by accident or on purpose, they have still brought a living being into this world that will grow up one day and be apart of our community whether you like it or not. Without these payments, these babies might not have a sufficient amount of nutrients required to develop adequately and could result in conditions as serious as malnutrition as the mothers won’t have any other options to feed themselves and their children. I personally don’t understand how some people can be against helping teenage mothers with the funding of their children whilst knowing without it, it could lead to something as serious as the death of their children. Centrelink payments are all about equality and taking teenage mothers off of the list is purely barbaric as they are just as deserving as anyone else. Even if their are people out there who believe that teenage pregnancies are “sins”, who are you to say that they should not be considered equal in the Australian community and provided with the same benefits as everyone else in the country? It is just like gay marriage, you’re not the one in the homosexual relationship, so why is it any of your business how they live their lives… or in this case, receive help?