Income Splitting Moves A Step Closer This Month

Income Splitting moves a step closer to implementation this month with the public release of a Discussion Paper by the Minister of Revenue, Peter Dunne.

Income Splitting is a way for parents to split their combined incomes so that they collectively pay less tax. It is also a way for governments to give recognition to the role of at home parents. If Income Splitting is to win sufficient support in parliament then we need to have as many parents as possible write to their local MPs asking them to support income splitting.

Parents' Choice 08 encourages parents who believe in the value of parenting to also write to the Minister of Revenue and ask for a free copy of the Discussion Paper when it is released. Postage is free. Just write to : Hon Peter Dunne, Minister of Revenue, Parliament Buildings, Wellington.

Support growing for Income Splitting

We have received a tremendous response to our campaign for parenting to be given greater recognition by government. Supporters from across New Zealand - Northland, Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and the South island have emailed to indicate their support for Parents Choice and to wish us well with the campaign.

We have been asked many questions several times so I thought it would be helpful to cover off a few of them here.

We are not tied to any political party - we are independent. We hope to persuade a range of parties to support Income Splitting at the next election. At the moment only one parliamentary party has indicated its support for Income Splitting and that is United Future. We will be approaching representatives of the other political parties to ask them for their views and to see if they will consider Income Splitting as part of their election year platform.

Supporters have also asked how they can help. Apart from emailing us at parentschoice08@gmail.com and letting us know you support the campaign the next thing to do would be to write to the Minister of Revenue, Hon Peter Dunne MP, Parliament Buildings, Wellington to let him know you support Income Splitting and want to see progress this year.

Other actions that could be taken are to right to your local MP or your local paper, or promote Parents Choice among other parents. We are also considering launching a petition. If you would be keen to help collect signatures then please let us know and we will be in touch.

Income Splitting - An Idea Whose Time Has Come

During the last two weeks Parents Choice has received a significant number of emails and comments from people supporting income splitting and from news media interested in the campaign. The tide is coming in and support is rising for income splitting.

In the past 14 days alone various media including "Norwester", "Challenge Weekly", "Shine TV", "Scoop", and overseas websites have all published articles and news reports about the Parents Choice campaign for income splitting. We have had expressions of support from Whangarei, Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Waikenae, Lower Hutt, Wellington, and Christchurch. It has been amazing to see the widespread interest in a policy change that will show New Zealand values families and the investment of time and effort in raising children.

Please pass on the contact details to friends and relatives who might be interested in indicating their support for income splitting. We need the campaign to continue to gather momentum during March so that by the time the Government's Discussion Paper is relased there is already a strong movement for change. Email parentschoice08@gmail.com and show your support today. United Future has already pledged its support for Income Splitting. We believe that over the next few months National, Labour and other parties will also see the need to signal their support for the hundreds of thousands of full time parents who are busy investing in the next generation.

New Parents Group Wants Income Splitting

Media Statement

Saturday 9 February 2008

New Group Wants Income Splitting For Parents

A new lobby group – Parents Choice '08 – has today announced that it will campaign this election year for tax reform to allow parents to split their incomes for tax purposes thereby recognising the contribution of the "at home" parent.

"Parents want their role to be recognised by society. They are tired of being undervalued simply because they work with children at home" says Parents Choice Chairman, Roger Ellis.

"Income Splitting would allow a parent at home to share their partner's income for tax purposes. This means that a parent earning $60,000 per year could split the income with their partner so that each was taxed on $30,000. This could save the couple up to $123 per fortnight in tax" said Mr Ellis.

"We should not underestimate the importance of children bonding with parents – especially during the early years of development. Families today are being taxed without any recognition of the contributions made by at home parents. If Income Splitting were introduced it would restore some measure of value to at home parenting" said Mr Ellis.

"The pressures pushing both parents to hurriedly rejoin the workforce need to be relieved. Our labour force participation rates are already among the highest in the OECD. Better economic performance will come from higher productivity and improved social cohesion. Income splitting could help make the difference for many families. Families choosing to look after their own children at home should be free to make their own choice as to when they rejoin the workforce. Income Splitting will help them do that" said Mr Ellis.

Parents can show their support for Parents Choice by emailing: parentschoice08@gmail.com or comment via the blog at www.parentschoice08.blogspot.com

ENDS

For information:

Roger Ellis, Chairman, Parents Choice '08
ph: 021 526 264
email: parentschoice08@gmail.com
www.parentschoice08.blogspot.com

Embracing the Digital World

This week I attended the Digital Future Summit in Auckland. This was a gathering of over 500 leaders from telecommunications, IT, education, youth, iwi, and government. One of the most interesting aspects for parents was a presentation by Barry Vercoe, professor of Music and Media Arts And Sciences at Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.

Barry grew up in Paeroa before embarking on a very successful career in the USA. Together with Professor Nicholas Necroponte he helped form the internationally respected One laptop per child programme led by MIT. In brief the programme enables access to the Internet so that creativity and innovation are encouraged rather than stifled. He discussed ways in which laptops costing no more than $100 were made available to schoolchildren in the Solomon Islands. An e-learning community is then built by networking the laptops together.

We saw the responses and enthusiasm for learning as kids got to have their own laptop and to explore the Internet for themselves. In today's world we all need to be familiar with digital technology if we are going to have a say and have a role to play. We need to ensure that there are no pockets of New Zealand where children are left on the wrong side of the digital divide through lack of income or because they happen to live in the wrong part of the country.

Parents can draw real support from access to broadband and good information about parenting resources. Parents also need to be aware of the some of the risks associated with the Internet. Hectors World and other work by groups like Netsafe are all part of the pack of resources with which parents need to be empowered if we are to equip our children with the tools necessary to prosper in the 21st century while at the same time minimising risks from harmful elements in the Internet world. For more details on the summit itself refer to http://www.digitalsummit.org.nz/.

Parenting Counts

[This blog was first published as a letter to the editor of the Dominion Post newspaper 17 November 2007]


James Weir (DomPost November 10th) assumes that any parent given the choice would opt for squeezing more paid working hours into an already busy schedule.

Fortunately not all parents focus purely on the monetary costs of having children. If the so-called “vanishing women” (and a few Dad’s) have opted to invest more time with their kids then that is a legitimate choice. Part time work can fit well with school pick ups and drop-offs.

Economists and policymakers need to realise that many parents see time invested with children as important. Some parents make a legitimate and positive choice to stay at home while their children are young – despite the economic and social costs of doing so in today’s politically correct culture. Others choose to return to work earlier. It’s time to stop the judgmental social engineering which sees parents as economic units of production to be extracted from the home and coaxed out into the labour market. Caring for children is a productive investment.