Lords Hansard Home Page Public Interest Disclosure Bill 7.12 p.m. Read a third time, and passed. The Government came to power with a mandate to reform social security. One of the key principles guiding reform is that the system should support families and children and tackle child poverty. We are committed to supporting all families with children.
All families have extra costs as a result of bringing up children.
We believe that support for families should be based on the needs of children, not on family structure. We also believe that the benefit system should recognise specifically identified costs that any family may face. That is why we have increased benefit allowances in respect of children under 11 years of age and why we revolutionised the support that parents can receive towards the cost of childcare. Within that context, we do not believe it is right to pay a higher fixed rate of child benefit to lone-parent families. Direct help with the cost of childcare addresses the in-work costs of lone parents much more effectively.