Democratic Labour Party (DLP) candidate for St James North, Felicia Dujon, has called on the Government to reinstate the child allowance that was previously granted to families during tax filings.
Speaking during the St James North by-election meeting, Dujon said families across Barbados were struggling under current economic conditions and the removal of the child allowance represented a failure to support working-class households and single parents.
She urged the Government to implement a consistent monthly support system rather than “this one-off $300 bribe”.
“I met a family today, and many families are struggling,” she said.
“There was a time when families received child allowance when filing their taxes. The Government took that away from us. They took it away from families. And this is a government that tells us that it cares. We want it back.”
Dujon also criticised the Government’s One Family Initiative, claiming it has not reached the families most in need.
“If you’re speaking about families, and I think that you have a programme called the One Family Initiative, where is it touching? Because it’s not touching all these families in this country. We are asking and appealing to taxpayers that the families that we need our child allowances back. It was $1,000 per child.” (AM)
