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AUSTRALIA 
Relief for working mums in budget
Saturday, 26 April, 2008
Working mothers will be better off after the next budget, the Treasurer says (AAP)
A study has found that mothers who work to help pay off mortgages and cover household bills will be $3,600 to $7,000 a year better off from two combined Budget measures.
The Treasury study says this is due to the effects of tax cuts and the 50 per cent child rebate which will begin on July 1 - both election promises.
News Ltd newspapers say the study was commissioned by the federal government and was released to reassure families worried they would not be helped deal with increasing household expenses.
Treasury selected a "typical family" with two children in which the father earns $50,000 a year and the mother from $19,000 to $37,000 a year, depending on whether it is part-time or full-time work.
Up to $137 a week extra
It found the Budget measures will add from $71 a week, or $3,686 a year, to a family with a mother working part-time.
The boost will be $136 a week, or $7,069 a year, if the mother has full-time work.
Treasurer Wayne Swan yesterday called mothers balancing a job and family life "some of the unsung heroes who work to make our economy strong".
"Super mums who have returned to work to help meet their family's increased mortgage and cost of living expenses will be big beneficiaries from tax and childcare benefits due to be enshrined in the Rudd government's first Budget," he says.
The government will cut billions of dollars from spending in the May 13 Budget as part of its attack on inflation.
News Ltd says Mr Swan wants to assure working families that this won't be a source of financial pain for them.
Source: AAP
The Treasury study says this is due to the effects of tax cuts and the 50 per cent child rebate which will begin on July 1 - both election promises.
News Ltd newspapers say the study was commissioned by the federal government and was released to reassure families worried they would not be helped deal with increasing household expenses.
Treasury selected a "typical family" with two children in which the father earns $50,000 a year and the mother from $19,000 to $37,000 a year, depending on whether it is part-time or full-time work.
Up to $137 a week extra
It found the Budget measures will add from $71 a week, or $3,686 a year, to a family with a mother working part-time.
The boost will be $136 a week, or $7,069 a year, if the mother has full-time work.
Treasurer Wayne Swan yesterday called mothers balancing a job and family life "some of the unsung heroes who work to make our economy strong".
"Super mums who have returned to work to help meet their family's increased mortgage and cost of living expenses will be big beneficiaries from tax and childcare benefits due to be enshrined in the Rudd government's first Budget," he says.
The government will cut billions of dollars from spending in the May 13 Budget as part of its attack on inflation.
News Ltd says Mr Swan wants to assure working families that this won't be a source of financial pain for them.
Source: AAP
