When Melton mother Kellie McInerney was forced to leave her job four years ago she knew it would be a battle to find secure work again.
The sole parent has suffered from kidney failure since she was six and is on the waiting list for a transplant.
With the release of last week’s 2014 federal budget, Ms McInerney, who is on a disability pension, believes her chances of making a life for herself and her son, 11, are slim.
The Parents without Partners vice-president said she was forced to move back into her family home when she left work.
While she is thankful for her strong family network, she mourns for the life she always wanted for her little boy.
“How will I ever move out, live on my own?” she told Star Weekly. “He’s not getting the childhood he deserves.”
In its budget, the Abbott government plans to cut off the family tax benefit B payment to sole parents and families with one parent at home once their youngest child turns six, instead of 18.
The budget also proposes that people on the disability support pension who are under 35 and have been assessed as being able to work more than eight hours a week will have to take part in compulsory work programs.
Ms McInerney said single mothers often faced negative stereotypes despite many of them wanting to get out into the workforce.
“I try to get out there and do things around my dialysis. If I could work full time I would.”
Ms McInerney urged other sole parents to join Parents without Partners to make friends.
The group meets in Melton. Contact Karen on 0475 432 366 for more details.
