Originally Posted by Parihaka

It is. Since the mid 70's we've had what we call the domestic purposes benefit, which is welfare for single parents and is paid IIRC up until the youngest child is 16. I'm in no way decrying the purpose of the benefit which was to counter the effects of all those families abandoned by the fathers, but an unwanted side effect is that within certain sectors of society it's now seen as the normal way of raising children.
In other words it's a lifestyle choice. What is needed and what is progressively being introduced is forcing the fathers to contribute to their children by deducting income from them via their personal income tax, but as many are also on welfare themselves you can see it's a catch 22.