Coronavirus-related Poverty

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:44 pm on 1 December 2020.

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Photo of Helen Mary Jones Helen Mary Jones Plaid Cymru 1:44, 1 December 2020

I know the First Minister will be aware, from the research that he's mentioned, of the disproportional impact of COVID economically on women, and particularly single-parent families, which tend to be led by women. The £500 payment that's available to people on low incomes who are self-isolating is very welcome and we know it's making a big difference and enabling people to self-isolate. But, of course, that payment, as things stand, is not available to the parents of children who have to isolate or who are sent home because their colleagues are isolating. Speaking to a constituent the other day, she said to me, 'What am I supposed to do? I know I shouldn't take my children to be with my mother, because I know that isn't safe. They're supposed to be staying at home with me, but if I don't go to work, I don't get paid. If I apply for benefits, I'll wait weeks and weeks and weeks before they come through.'

May I ask the First Minister today if he will look again at the eligibility for this payment? We all realise that the Welsh Government really doesn't have a magic money tree, but in terms of priorities, I hope that the First Minister would agree with me that enabling parents, particularly single mothers, to stay at home with their children when the children have to isolate, is something that we should all work towards, because none of us would want to find ourselves in that position where we have to either be able to put bread on the table or to follow the rules.