WELFARE advocates are planning a national protest next month against the “horrendous” single parent payment cuts by the Federal Government, with the main protest at Parliament House.

Under the changes, single parents are being shifted from parenting payments onto the Newstart unemployment allowance when their youngest child turns eight years old, resulting in a drop of weekly income between $60 to $100.

The single parents action group (SPAG) is organising rallies in all major cities on February 5 to push for the government to reverse its decision.

Protest organiser Samantha Seymour says the cuts “will have a ripple effect and the social ramifications are horrendous.”

“Moving single parents from Parenting Payment to the Newstart Allowance when their youngest child turns 8 will have so many negative impacts for single parent families,” she says.

“Our purpose is to show the government that we will not tolerate their decision to further deprive and isolate Australians whose only perceived crime is being single parents.

“The people who have stepped up to organise this rally are just ordinary single parents who are terrified about what sort of a country we live in, where it’s acceptable to dump single parents onto Newstart, a payment which is unlivable and inappropriate for single parents.”

SPAG founder Kathy Lee says most single parents are already juggling work, or studying, with caring for their children full time.

“Those who are studying will have to defer or resign from their studies, while the majority who are already working will have to find additional work, while juggling the pressures of single parenthood,” she says.

“Given the current job market employment prospects are limited especially for those in country areas who have no access to jobs and even less access to childcare.

“We are calling on the Prime Minister and her Ministers to review the legislation changes for all single parents. We are calling on her to raise the NewStart allowance to an acceptable level, set above the poverty line. With all the media hype lately, it has been recognised that $35 a day is impossible to live on, even for an individual let alone a single parent family.”

Protesters will wear t-shirts with both their handprints and their children’s hand prints on them while holding hearts during the rally.

“The hearts will depict individual stories highlighting how the changes will affect us and our children,” Samantha says.

The main rally will take place in Canberra on February 5. The rally will start at 9.30am at Old Parliament House and proceed to Parliament House for an 11am start.