057f3528_1997_articles__s__not_necessarily_contiguous_
[Date & reference] 1997-12-09 Electronic Telegraph Ministers to clamp down on 'lying' lone parents By Rachel Sylvester, Political Correspondent
MINISTERS are drawing up plans to force lone parents to give more information to the Child Support Agency because they believe that thousands of single mothers are lying to get extra benefits. The Government is determined to tighten up the rules, claiming that single mothers are exploiting the welfare system by falsely stating that they would be at risk of violence from their absent husband or boyfriend. Ministers do not believe that the figures reflect a genuine increase in domestic violence. They are convinced that many women are refusing to pass on the information so that they can continue to claim benefits rather than relying on the father of their child for financial support. Officials automatically approach all single mothers claiming benefit to ask them for the name and address of their estranged husband or boyfriend so that the CSA can ask the father for money. Women can refuse to divulge these details if they say that they or their children would be "at risk of harm or undue distress" if they did so.
1997 articles
Extracts (not necessarily contiguous)