Sole Parent Family Support in Australia: Income Support and Labour Market Issues

Bettina Cass

This paper outlines the key issues of sole parent family policy identified by the Australian Social Security Review in 1987, the subsequent policies that were introduced by the Australian Government, and some of the outcomes for sole parent families.

The paper also deals with the question of why it is considered important for social policies in both the social security system and in employment, education and training programmes to address the needs of sole parents and their children in specific ways, rather than subsuming them within general family policy.

The discussion begins with background information on sole parent family formation, and the labour force circumstances and economic welfare of sole parent families. After looking at the recommendations of the Social Security Review, the paper outlines the key changes put into place in the provisions affecting sole parent families, including the introduction of Child Support and JET (Jobs, Education, Training). I then look at the extent to which these initiatives have affected the choices for sole parents to remain outside the paid labour force,  the extent to which sole parents can combine childcare and income-earning, and what remains to be done to improve sole parent families’ economic and social welfare.