Welfare Reform Bill

The point of a work-focused interview is to give an individual a chance to engage with what is entailed in moving further towards the job market. If you do not have the opportunity of that work-focused interview at an earlier stage, the first engagement under the noble Lord’s proposition seems to be when the youngest child is aged three. That adds to the period where the lone parent may have been away from the job market. We know that some engagement, even if it is a work-focused interview, generally enhances the chances of people accessing work at an earlier stage than they otherwise might. If you say that they do not have to come near the jobcentre until their youngest child reaches the age of three, that is a gap that would make it more difficult for many people to access work or get themselves involved in those work-related activities as quickly as they otherwise might.