Conversation transported from AW thread...
Sorry to barge in, guys. I know this isn't strictly on topic, but it's closer to American Politics than it is to American Women.
[QUOTE=Dickhead]This is a poverty issue, not a single parent issue. There's a positive correlation between being a single parent and being poor, but which came first, the chicken or the egg? The poverty is the chicken and the single parenthood is the egg, and not the other way around, I became convinced by my empirical research.[/QUOTE]
I come from a well-respected middle- (bordering on upper-) class family. I hold the dubious honour of being the first, in many generations, to be a teenage parent, to get a divorce and to raise my children alone. Aside from blatant stupidity on my part, I think my geographic location was a primary influence. Growing up in a small rural community, I had limited sex education in school and no negative role models. It's interesting that when I became pregnant at 16, a number of 'respectable' local women confided in me that they had also been teenage mothers. Apparently it was an open secret that everyone knew, but nobody talked about. I can't help but think that if I had witnessed the hardships of teen parenthood as a child, I might have given more consideration to the risk of pregnancy.
[QUOTE=Dickhead]In the long run, the money directed at "aid to families with dependent children" or whatever you want to call it, might be better spend on education, training, and job creation.[/QUOTE]
I couldn't agree with you more on this one. This concept is given a lot of lip service by the Oz Government, but it just doesn't work in practice. The problem is that they have no understanding (due to a lack of adequate consultation) about the realities of single parenthood. In most cases, our current education and employment strategies actively PREVENT single mothers participating.
There are a million problems with the current system, but the biggest is that it doesn't take into account the COST of employment. A sole parent can stay at home and raise their child (which, I might add, is a very important job in itself) and receive $350 per week in benefits. If she/he starts working, to earn that same $350 they have to pay for fuel, car maintenence, parking, lunches, uniforms, education and training, etc. And, of course, the big killer...childcare.
As an example, Oz single parents lose their benefits - and all rebates and allowances, including the childcare rebate - once they earn over $700 per week. Childcare with NO rebates, for one child, costs almost $400 per week. On school holidays, 13 weeks of the year, it can skyrocket to over $600 per week. Add employment expenses to that, and single parents are much worse off working than they are staying at home. Also, keep in mind that $700 per week is the upper level of Australian female income. The chances of a single mother earning that amount, or more, is slim to none. The reality is that most single parents will be in low-paid part-time or casual work, leaving them even MORE disadvantaged.
Governments simply MUST understand that single parents do not have the choice of having one parent stay at home with the kids...childcare is a necessity and a legitimate work expense. I believe that the first step in fixing this problem is that childcare needs to be FREE for single parents.
Ok, so the Government would be paying out massive amounts in childcare each year, but look at how much they could save in the long run. Single parents would be paying tax and it could help to break the cycle of poverty, with children of single parents getting a decent education and growing up knowing the value of work. Also, there would be less children roaming the streets and committing crime while Mum is at work (because she left them at home alone, because she couldn't afford childcare).
Sorry for the long-winded reply, but as someone who has personally headbutted this brick wall for 17 years, it's an issue close to my heart. Over the years I've had to quit two jobs, both of which I loved, because it wasn't financially viable for me to stay. It's no fun living on benefits, but it's even harder living on LESS than benefits! I started hooking because it was the only way I could afford to pay for childcare AND living expenses AND past debts AND still be a proper mother to my children.
Three rhetorical questions
I notice a lot of "Yank-bashing" in ISG and other forums. I myself have bemoaned the way the country of my birth is "going to hell in a bucket," and yes, I'm looking to emigrate from the USA when the time is right.
The USA isn't the only country that comes in for some bashing in these pages and in the world press. But, still...
If the USA is so bad, why are people immigrating to the USA in such droves? (Formal and "informal" - I use "informal" as a PC version of "illegal")
If Australia sucks, why are so many people trying to immigrate to Australia?
If you're [i]not[/i] a citizen of the USA or Australia, how does your homeland rank among desirable destinations for immigration? If you aren't living there now, why not? And what do you prefer about the country where you're living?
As I said, these are rhetorical questions. I'm not looking for an argument, and there are no "wrong" answers. But it could make an interesting discussion.
Don't be affected by their propaganda.
To all Americans reading this thread.
Don't accept the scare tactics currently being transmitted over audio air waves and television. These people and so-called party members are so disappointed we have a Democratic President different than any previously elected while Congress is also Democratic, they are trying to create fear and hatred in this nation unbecoming in our history.
Remember one highly important factor. Under President Clinton's last four years in office, we had the greatest prosperity since the early 1960s and a monetary surplus in the Treasury. It took an incompetent individual from Texas to destroy whatever positive steps were taken during his previous administration. The current Administration can not create miracles within 1½-2 years after 8 years of mismanagement.
