The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

THE Free National Movement is proposing to provide $200 per month to new single mothers, a plan the party says would cost between $12m and $14m annually and be funded by cutting government spending.

Elizabeth Estates candidate Heather Hunt said the initiative would target Bahamian mothers in single-income households, particularly those who are unmarried or in lower income brackets.

The Tribune contacted Ms Hunt to expand on the proposal, which she described as a “child support initiative” aimed at helping women in the first two years after giving birth.

“It’s targeted at a specific group of mothers who find themselves after having children, it’s difficult to get back to work and get back to a normal earning capacity because childcare are expensive,” she said, adding the support would apply to unmarried mothers and low-income households.

“That’s for the single mother who would have given birth and is not married, so doesn’t have the support of a husband to take care of or help her take care of expenses, and it’s also for low income mothers,” she said.

Ms Hunt said the party estimates the programme would cost “$12 to $14 million a year” and could be financed by reducing what she described as wasteful government spending.

“We’ve seen demonstrated waste in this government: the exorbitant travel expenses, and the very, very high cost of consultancy services, just to name two, but there would be other areas of waste where we believe that we can extract $12 to $14 million per year to just give support to the women that need it,” she said.

Asked about existing support for single-income households, Ms Hunt said it has not been adequate.

“I don’t think that there’s been satisfactory support,” she said, pointing to cuts to food assistance and what she described as “very little results” from commitments to construct shelters for women and girls.

She said the programme is intended to help women return to work.

“This is why this particular program is so important, so that women can get back to work, live with decency and dignity, knowing that they have support to become reintegrated into the labour force,” she said.

Ms Hunt said the proposal forms part of the party’s broader policy platform ahead of the next election.

In response to the FNM, Latrae Rahming, director of communications in the Office of the Prime Minister, said the opposition “has a credibility problem” and lacks the ability to deliver on its promises.