Work and Families Bill

I am grateful to the Minister for that comment. However, if he had had to bring up those children at home, rather than working in the House of Commons, he would understand that it was actually rather hard work. When my wife was bringing up our first two children and I was working away from home, she was working exceptionally hard on something that was of great benefit not only to our family but, ultimately, to the nation. The balance has now swung so far in favour of making people go out to work that there are huge financial disadvantages for the traditional family. The Care report examines 74 couples, and found that 64 of them would have been better off financially if they lived apart. It also showed that, on average, a couple lost £58 a week by staying together rather than living apart. One of the families studied, with average earnings of £25,000 a year, would gain £206 a week—yes, £206 a week—by splitting up. Where are the incentives in the Bill to keep families together? Children will always do better if they are brought up in a loving and secure family environment. I am not saying that financial reasons are the only factor involved when a couple split up, but they certainly play a big part. The tax credit system is, by its very nature, flawed. Since coming to Parliament in May, I have been inundated by worried constituents who have been victims of a system that is so ambiguous and complicated, with so many forms to be filled in, that many of them have been penalised. Let me give the House a specific example. I have had a mother crying in my office, fearful that the family would have to sell their home because they had had their tax credits stopped and had received a demand from the Inland Revenue for thousands of pounds in overpaid tax credits. When I looked at the situation, I found that my constituents had done nothing wrong; it seemed to be a gross error by the tax credit office. However, that did little to relieve the despair and hurt caused to my constituents by the tax credit system. The problem with this Government is that they believe that all mothers want to return to work for a career. They do not even consider the possibility that some mothers want to stay at home to bring up their children; that is not in their psyche. The Bill is only half a Bill; it addresses one issue but totally ignores the other.