Crabb has said that his early experiences informed his views on welfare: "The most powerful thing to me, looking back, is the way that my mother went through a crisis in her life and became welfare-dependent. She started working just a few hours each week, increasing her hours and then moving to a position where with extra training she was able to move into full-time work, become a car owner, and reach full economic independence." He also said: "I was brought up in a home where a huge amount of emphasis was put on work...so work and education as routes out of poverty were drummed into us".