About as many poor couples with children were supported by welfare alone as welfare and earnings - 14 percent each. The portion of poor single mothers who depend on welfare alone is 45 percent, but 20 percent combine work and welfare. The Child Tax Benefit is supposed to encourage people who are trying to make the transition from welfare into the work force. Combining welfare with work is a necessary step for people making their way off welfare and back into the workforce. For families with children, a full-time job at a low wage still may not raise the family off welfare, but it helps.
Many people are proud to be able to work, even if they still rely on welfare to make ends meet.
The Council believes that people who want to work and can work should be encouraged and supported. Committee members will be aware that people on welfare start having their welfare cheques reduced as they get more income from earnings. We have no firm guarantee that families whose income comes from welfare and earnings will not lose their Child Tax Benefits to clawbacks. In our opinion, taking the benefits away from these families would be most unfair. As you can see from the handout, letting families keep their benefits goes a very long way to creating incentives to work.