16 October 2007 – The statistics that shocked me – Hain
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Peter Hain today revealed that his commitment to see more people move from benefits into work was strengthened by seeing statistics from a number of countries around the world showing that being out of work is not only bad for the health and well being of parents, but of their children as well.
Mr Hain was speaking at ‘Welfare Voices’, a conference co-hosted by Child Poverty Action Group and One Parent Families.
Peter Hain said:
“Since taking up this job, I have been shocked by the statistics I have seen about the impact that living in a household in which the parent or parents do not work. The notion that life without work – whatever the level of income through benefits – is a stress-free experience is not just wrong, it’s dangerous.
“A study published in the British Medical Journal showed that the death rate from all external causes for children of parents classified as never having worked or as long term unemployed was 13.1 times that for children of professionals.
“Also the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among children in families whose parents have never worked is around five times greater than those with parents in professional occupations.
“And while overall the rates of deaths from injury and poisoning in children have fallen in England and Wales over the last 20 years, they have not for children in families in which no adult is in paid employment.
“This is shocking and underlines for me even more starkly why our crusade for full employment in our generation is so important.
“That is why our jobs pledge to help over 250,000 people into work is so important. That is why we want to be radical and ambitious on this agenda – despite already historically high levels of employment.
“And that is also why I believe it is right that Government must do all it can to help those long term benefit claimants, including lone parents, to get into a job but also why it is right for us to expect people to take advantage of that help for their families’ sake”.
Notes for Editors
- Peter Hain was speaking at the Welfare Voices conference hosted by Child Poverty Action Group and One Parent Families.
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