More solo dads on DPB

PALOMA MIGONE

Thousands more solo fathers are raising children on welfare, with nearly a 40 per cent surge in domestic purposes benefit (DPB) dads in the past four years.

There were 13,879 fathers receiving the DPB in June this year, but 9969 in June 2007, figures show.

Work and Income's Wellington regional commissioner, Louise Waaka, said the increase was due to more men taking over the care of their children and grandchildren. "Our sense around that is that there are men who are taking a more active part when relationships end," she said.

The DPB has traditionally been considered a backstop for solo mothers, many of whom were left to raise their kids after the father left the scene. But one Waikato solo dad, currently looking after a 14-year-old child and a 12-year-old grandchild, has been on the benefit for more than 24 years.

More men have followed suit as being a stay-at-home father was now more "acceptable", Auckland University associate professor of social work and human services Mike O'Brien said. "I don't have any hard data to base that on, but my guess is that's where the shift has been."

With fewer fulltime jobs available, fathers may have also been forced to enter part-time work and need further support, Prof O'Brien said. "People who would traditionally have been in work and [using] child-care are now on the domestic purposes benefit.

"Historically, the proportion of male sole-parents in paid work has been higher than it has been for females," he said.

Justice Ministry figures showed 998 fathers were granted day-to-day care of a child in the year to June 2011, up from 625 in the year to June 2007.

With more single dads on welfare, some support services haven't been able to keep up with their needs.

The growing number of single fathers felt "discriminated" against, with most services targeted to women, Salvation Army head of welfare services Major Pam Waugh said. "We have started a few dad and children groups to give them a bit of a break," she said.

Salvation Army centres had seen more single-fathers seeking assistance for housing, food and shelter, with numbers nearly doubling in four years.

Solo dads accounted for 4.1 per cent of traffic in the year to June 2007, and in the year to June 2011, it was up to 7.4 per cent, Major Waugh said.

The Salvation Army started holding "dad programmes" in Napier, Dunedin and Whangarei in the last year.

Ms Waaka said services were gender-neutral and Work and Income's prime role was to support everyone who needed help. "It doesn't matter what gender they are, or what ethnicity they are."

The department was working on bringing the number of people on the DPB down, she said. "We all know from the research that is being done that people are better off when they are not on benefits."

The Government was working on a major welfare reform, focused on getting people back to work, and announcements were due soon.

A DAD'S BATTLE

Solo-dad Tony Heka said he would have been in ''big trouble'' raising his young children without the DPB.

The 63-year-old father of James, 10, Jalissa, 9, and Samara, 7, began receiving payments about five years ago, after separating from his partner.

Heka, from Paraparaumu on the Kapiti Coast, said the relationship with the children's mother, who is 25 years his junior, eventually ended due to the age gap - ''I was actually ready for it''.

The couple had an ''amicable'' discussion following the break-up and agreed he should take custody of the children, he said.

''We didn't go to court or anything. We knew we had to do things just for the kids.''

''We sort of worked out that they were better off with me because I'm an older man.

''I don't really want to be in another relationship, so therefore I've got all my time to put into the children rather than doing other things.''

After earlier raising three children, now aged 40, 35 and 22, Heka was confident he could take care of his kids.

''I've enjoyed it right from the word go.''

He had his own business spraying weeds before signing up to welfare, but dropped it to become a full-time dad.

''I thought the children are at a time when they need me. That's why I stopped working.''

He received about $700 a week in DPB payments and other assistance due to a heart condition.

Heka said he struggled, but took on cleaning or painting jobs at their school to help pay for some of the kids' activities.

He was planning to head back to full-time work in three years when his youngest, Samara, turned 10.

Heka said he understood why many people viewed those on welfare negatively.

Some beneficiaries saw it as a job or a way of life, ''I think that's where all the stigma comes from''.

''For me, if I didn't have it, I would have been in big trouble,'' he said.

-Fairfax NZ