The Free National Movement (FNM) today announced additional details on its Working Parent Child Support Initiative, a key component of the party’s family-first policy agenda designed to help working Bahamian parents manage the cost of raising young children while strengthening the nation’s workforce.
“The best way to pay for high-quality public services in the long run is to have a strong, efficient economy, something the PLP has failed to deliver,” said Hon. Michael C. Pintard, Leader of the Free National Movement. “A future FNM government will not tolerate the waste and incompetence we’ve seen under the Davis Administration from a quarter of a billion dollars squandered on bloated consultancy contracts, to hundreds of millions in insider deals, to tens of millions spent on luxury travel for ministers. That money would be better spent on the Bahamian people, and that’s exactly what we will do.”
The Working Parent Child Support Initiative will provide $200 per month in direct assistance to qualifying primary caregivers, typically mothers, during the first two years of a child’s life.
The program will support qualifying parents, whether married or single, who are working or actively seeking employment, easing the burden of childcare and enabling families to stay engaged in the labour force.
“Our research indicates that in too many instances, the cost of providing day care either provides an impediment to obtaining stable employment, or cuts too much into the modest income of those at entry levels in the work force”, Pintard added.
To ensure public funds are used responsibly and reach those who truly need them, the initiative will include an income qualifier that excludes high-income and high-net-worth individuals. Drawing on census data on live births and the programme’s eligibility criteria, the FNM estimates that between $12 and $14 million per year will flow directly to working Bahamian families.
The initiative will be funded by cutting waste, specifically by reducing the PLP government’s bloated consultancy spending. The current budget allocates $59.4 million for consultancy contracts. A 21 percent reduction in that line item alone would fully fund the first phase of the Working Parent Child Support Initiative with no new taxes and no increase in the deficit.
“Every dollar we spend should make life better for Bahamian families, not political insiders,” Pintard added. “Under the FNM, public money will once again work for the people.”
The Working Parent Child Support Initiative sits within a broader FNM agenda that takes workforce participation seriously at every stage of life. The Party is also committed to expanding universal free pre-school, so that after those critical first two years, every Bahamian child has access to quality early education. We also are establishing a $100 weekly stipend for young Bahamians enrolled in approved vocational training programmes because we believe in investing in Bahamians at the start of their working lives, not just managing the consequences when opportunity is absent.