Greens back campaign to save Education Maintenance Allowance
08 December 2010
The Green Party today joined the campaign to save a weekly cash allowance that helps hundreds of thousands of young people stay in full-time education.
The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is currently paid to 16-19 year-olds from low-income backgrounds who stay in full-time education.
The payments are intended to help cover the costs of travel, books and equipment and amount to £10-30 a week. The coalition government has announced that it will scrap the scheme from next month, as part of wider spending cuts.
Caroline Lucas MP said today:
"Scrapping EMA is one of the most damaging things this government could do. It would destroy the aspirations of so many young people, by wrecking their chances of further education."
"Scrapping EMA is the equivalent to a huge income tax rise for the families in question"
Green Party education spokesperson Rachel Fryer commented:
"The EMA helps to make further education accessible to the most vulnerable young people. There is evidence that it has reduced the number of young people not in employment, education or training, and has improved attendance and punctuality.
"This is yet another cut which will affect the poorest people in our society and widen the gap between rich and poor. Saving EMA is an important stepping stone towards a fairer and more equal society.
"Anyone whose children will no longer get EMA will have to find that extra cash themselves. If you take a parent earning £25,000 a year for example, whose child currently gets £20 a week EMA, for the parent to replace that £20 is the equivalent of more than a 20% increase in the parent's income tax."
For more information about the campaign, please see http://saveema.co.uk/ and www.emacampaign.org.uk, both of which are supported by Caroline Lucas MP on behalf of the Green Party.
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