Child benefit changes hinted at
Fundamental changes could be carried out to the child benefits system, the Government's new "Poverty Tsar" has admitted.
Former Labour minister Frank Field told The Times newspaper that payments linked to the age of a child was being considered along with introducing tax on the benefit.
The child benefits system costs about £11 billion to run per year. At the moment, it is paid until a child is 19 if they are in full-time education, with parents receiving £20.30 a week for their eldest child and £13.40 a week for each of their other children.
Mr Field was named as chairman of the Review of Poverty and Life Chances panel by Downing Street last week and said one area which would be looked at closely was what happened to the award when a child reaches the age of 13 or 14.
He said: "At that age mothers feel even more engaged with work than they are with children. They feel more secure with their children when they are over 13 and so on. If you have a crisis at work and can't be home, it's not such a disaster as when you have a seven-year-old coming home from school."
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