PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
WORKING TAX CREDIT AND COUPLES WITH CHILDREN (23 January 2012)

That this House believes that the principle of universal credit is correct, that families should be rewarded on a proportionate basis for the amount of work that they areable to do; congratulates and supports parents who are only able to find part-time work and are bringing up their children as best they can whilst on a low household income; therefore further believes that now is the wrong time to require couples with children to increase their working hours in order to continue to qualify for 3,870 in working tax credit as additional jobs or working hours are not available; is concerned that over 200,000 couples with 470,000 children will fall into absolute poverty if they are unable to find the additional hours of work required due to cuts in staffing levels and high unemployment; and therefore calls on the Government not to implement the proposed increase to the criteria for working hours for couples with children to qualify for working tax credit in April 2012.

Sponsored by:
Ann Coffey (The Independent Group for Change)