One Family 2024 Election Manifesto

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Key Asks for the next Programme for Government

One Family‘s manifesto for the Irish General Elections 2024 focuses on tackling persistent and acute challenges faced by one-parent families through comprehensive reforms. We propose a set of effective measures to raise the living standard of one-parent families through unifying welfare payments, reducing employment barriers and lowering the Working Family Payment threshold, for example. Other key measures include expanding Fuel Allowance eligibility, enhancing childcare subsidies and strengthening child maintenance enforcement. We advocate for equitable parental leave for lone parents, accessible and comprehensive out-of-court services, as well as coordinated, targeted initiatives to combat child poverty across Ireland. A child-centred housing policy aligned with the European Child Guarantee and a dedicated Family Homelessness Strategy will enable government and statutory structures to eradicate to homelessness and emergency accommodation issues.

Read our key asks for the next Government of Ireland here:

PDF for EMAIL_Election Manifesto 2024Download

 

Research Highlights Dire Situation of One-Parent Families in Ireland

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Two recent reports published in November 2024 address the continuous decline in living standard and basic supports for one-parent families in Ireland.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul‘s Research Centre report, supported by the Department of Social Protection, on Minimum Essential Standard of Living gives an overview of the impact of Budget 2025  across a number of metrics, such as housing shortage and homelessness, energy poverty, social and income supports. Several social categories and household types, such as one-parent and, respectively, two-parent households with two school-age children, are covered in detail.
 
The report also assesses “which changes to incomes and services protect the real value of supports in the context of changes to living costs, and forecasting if progress will be made towards enabling a socially acceptable minimum standard of living in the coming year” in Ireland.

References to one-parent households with children highlight the key negative impacts affecting members of these families, and the evident gaps in addressing housing costs and childcare expenses:

  • Income Adequacy: Many one-parent households experience persistent income inadequacy, and are unable to meet the Minimum Essential Standard of Living (MESL) requirements.
  • Child Poverty: Specific measures are needed to reduce child poverty, especially in single-parent families, where it is disproportionately high.

While the report notes some improvements in welfare and income supports, it recommends the implementation of enhanced supports for low-income, lone-parent families, such as targeted welfare increases and affordable childcare.

Read the full report here: 

MESL SVP ReportDownload

The Ireland country report (pages 93–97) in the “Children’s Realities in Europe: Progress & Gaps Eurochild 2024 report on children in need across Europe” outlines persistent child poverty challenges, despite some improvements in social welfare measures. The report stresses the need for enhanced housing supports and affordable childcare in Ireland. It discusses the effects of income inadequacy on children’s wellbeing and education and recommends targeted welfare increases, better access to services, and policy reforms to systemic barriers for vulnerable families, and one-parent families in particular.

Read the Ireland country report here:

Eurochild report IrelandDownload

 

A prominent, long-term study entitled Lone parent transitions, employment transitions and poverty outcomes, published in October 2024 by The Economic and Social Research Institute study, in collaboration with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in Ireland, found that lone parenthood significantly increases economic vulnerability, which is measured by low income, material deprivation, and financial stress. Using data from the Growing Up in Ireland study (2008–2017), it highlights that lone parents face prolonged economic challenges compared to two-parent families. Key findings in the report highlight that around half of lone parents receive no maintenance from their former partner, 9% of two parent families become lone parent families, who are then faced with a higher risk of economic vulnerability. 

Read the report here:

RS193Download

PRESS RELEASE: One-parent families must be at heart of next Programme for Government

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7 November 2024

Today, One Family, Ireland’s national organisation for one-parent families, has launched its first dedicated national survey aiming to document the experiences and challenges of lone parents and their children living in Ireland.

 

Further to recent ESRI research, which found that being a lone parent significantly increases the risk of financial stress and overall poverty, One Family invites people living in one-parent families to help gather important data to highlight the unique challenges experienced by these families. The organisation is looking to hear from anyone parenting alone, sharing parenting or going through separation. This includes parents, step-parents, kinship carers, guardians or foster parents. Their participation will help develop research that can build a comprehensive picture of the significant and sustained life challenges faced by one-parent families across the country.


The survey can be accessed through One Family’s website here.

 

One Family lone parents single parents national survey Ireland 2024

 

Completing the survey also provides parents in one-parent families with the opportunity to participate in the One Family Advocacy Project, an initiative funded by Community Foundation Ireland, which aims to promote equality, enhance wellbeing, and support financial and social inclusion of the most disadvantaged groups in Irish society.

 

QUOTES

 

Karen Kiernan, One Family CEO, said,

‘We really want to make Ireland a better place for children living in one-parent families to grow up in and we know that many parents face big challenges, especially around their financial security. Hearing directly from parents themselves is an incredibly powerful way for us to understand exactly what is happening and therefore advocate more effectively to government for positive changes.  

As well as asking people to complete our survey, we are also seeking parents who would like to get more involved in our advocacy work. We know this can be extremely effective in influencing major changes to laws, policies and services. 

Carly Bailey, One Family Policy Manager and the Advocacy Project Manager, said,

‘Despite overwhelming evidence and years of data demonstrating persistent, long-term poverty and deprivation rates, successive governments have failed to provide an adequate safety net for the families we advocate for. We still have a social protection system that refuses to acknowledge the unique barriers they face and the potential trauma they may be experiencing. The system is also incredibly difficult to navigate, with poverty traps around almost every corner. 

Many of the families we work with continue to experience discrimination due to their family and parenting status and report high levels of shame and isolation as a result. We have a long history of treating lone parents and their children poorly in this country. It is high time it stopped. 

This is why we are calling on all parents in a one-parent families to participate in our National Survey. Decision-makers might ignore the evidence, but they cannot ignore the collective voice of the families impacted by their consistent failure to act.‘  

Parent, member of the new One Family Advocacy Project, said,

 ‘Like so many others parenting alone, I feel as if the State has abandoned my family and is ashamed of us. Why else is everything always so difficult? Like everyone else, I work really hard and do the best I can for my child, sometimes in very difficult circumstances. But with only one income coming in, I am never sure if I will be able to pay for everything each month which causes me huge anxiety. I am really looking forward to working with One Family as part of their new advocacy group and doing what I can, alongside other parents, to push for the change we deserve.’ 

For press inquiries or to arrange an interview with our spokespeople,

contact us here.

PRESS RELEASE: Another Year, Another Give-Away Budget | October 2024

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2 October 2024

 

— Ireland’s poorest children live in low-income, one-parent families but, yet again, they do not feature on the Government’s priority list  —

 

 

One Family, Ireland’s national organisation for one-parent families, has said that it is disappointed that the Government again failed to keep its promise to tackle child poverty effectively in its 2025 Budget and has not taken basic measures to support working lone parents. The organisation is of the view that the Government again opted for short-termist, once-off payments instead of structural interventions backed up by solid long-term strategies.

One Family has welcomed a number of positive steps taken towards tackling high living costs through universal measures such as the education-related hot school meals and free books programmes. It also welcomed an increase to the Single Person Child Carer Credit, but said it needs to be available to both co-parents post separation. Most importantly, the once-off payments that are again a strong feature of this budget will no doubt help many struggling families, but they do not solve anything long term.

One Family noted that one of the fundamental societal problems of the present day – child and family homelessness – does not appear to have been addressed by any specific universal or targeted interventions even though the latest homelessness statistics from the Department of Housing show that 58% of all families in emergency accommodation are now one-parent families.

In the context of rampant real-terms inflation and volatile cost-of-living conditions, One Family believes that core welfare payments have not caught up with inflation, are now worth less in value than in 2020 and are overall grossly inadequate in alleviating deprivation in both welfare-dependent and working families.

For low-income families with children, the double Child Benefit payments and electricity credits will only cover the festive gifts and the Christmas lights; the Government will effectively sponsor a brief holiday from the reality of running a household on constantly eroded incomes. When the sugar rush and the spare cash will have finished in January 2025, many families will be returned to the brutal reality of trying to juggle bills with the ongoing costs the budget did not address on October 1st.

The Government opted to give two costly bonus Child Benefit payments over just two months in 2024 at a cost of €371m. This is in contrast to the €78.5m spent on the Child Support Payment – a type of targeted support for the poorest children and families – over the entire year in 2025.

In its Pre-Budget Submission 2025, One Family proposed raising the Child Support Payment (formerly known as Qualified Child Increase) by a minimum of €6 and €15, respectively. This is to restore the age differentiation levels and combat inflationary cuts. In Budget 2025, the Qualified Child Increase payment is now worth €4 more for under 12s and €8 for over 12s.

Carly Bailey, One Family Policy Manager, said:

“Like other organisations and most experts, we recommended improving core social welfare rates and the Child Support Payment, which directly reaches the children most in need. The evidence is clear on this, Child Benefit is very expensive and has very little impact on child poverty rates. Since targeting is repeatedly recommended by researchers, it is genuinely difficult to comprehend the rationale behind this, especially when it seems that money is no issue.”

 

One Family also noted there is no increase in income disregard levels for One-Parent Family and Jobseeker’s Transitional payments. This is the amount of money lone parents can earn before it impacts on their payment; One Family recommended this needed to be increased to at least €205 to reflect increases to the National Minimum Wage.

Karen Kiernan, One Family CEO, said:

“It is inexplicable to us that Minister Humphreys and this Government did not support lone parents to move into or stay in employment by increasing the income disregard in line with national minimum wage increases. This makes it more difficult for parents to work – what they earn now is worth 12.2 hours of minimum wage, compared to the equivalent 26 hours in the year 2000.  

The Working Family Payment thresholds increased by €60 per family to align with the current national minimum wage – as is appropriate. However, this payment is not available to parents on Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment whose youngest child is over 7 years of age. We believe this should just be a normal part of adjustments to increases in the National Minimum Wage and we call on Government to rectify this oversight as soon as possible.” 

 

One Family has stated that Budget 2025 is another failure by the latest Government to make significant progress towards ensuring everyone in Ireland can have adequate living wages or social supports: once-offs and temporary top-ups will not last long and are very costly. While these pre-Christmas, pre-election give-aways are popular with some voters, they do not go far enough towards lifting the most vulnerable parents and children out of long-term poverty. In a year of anticipated surpluses and unexpected windfalls, Budget 2025 fails to find new ways to solve perennial problems, having shown that, yet again, decision makers refuse to stray from applying political solutions to real-life problems.

QUOTES

 

Karen Kiernan, One Family CEO’s statement:  

“We welcome some progressive Budget 2025 investments, such as the school meals programme, and the Government’s commitment to pilot holiday food provision – we know this is much needed, as One Family regularly provides struggling parents and children with weekly food vouchers. In the context of a lack of childcare, poorly paid part-time work and social welfare rates that unfortunately do not meet the real costs of today, most poor children living in consistent poverty in one-parent families are in dire need of such basic supports.”

Carly Bailey, One Family Policy Manager’s statement:  

“Throughout the year, we made it very clear to Government, that if they are serious about their stated desire to end child poverty, targeted long-term supports must be provided to one-parent families – it is these families in particular that continue to experience some of the highest rates of child poverty and material deprivation in Ireland.”

“We call on all political parties who are serious about ending child poverty to commit to engaging with One Family ahead of the General Election to ensure that all families are supported to keep their heads above water.”

 

CONTACT

For more information on or to arrange an interview with a One Family spokesperson, please contact:

Diana Valentine
Press & Communications
comms@onefamily.ie
Mobile/WhatsApp: 0834470645

 

FOR EDITORS

One Family is Ireland’s national organisation for one-parent families and people sharing parenting or separating. It offers support, information and services to all members of all one-parent families, to those sharing parenting, to those experiencing an unplanned pregnancy and to professionals working with one-parent families.

Children are at the centre of One Family’s work and the organisation helps all the adults in their lives, including mums, dads, grandparents, stepparents, new partners and other siblings, offering a holistic model of specialist family support services. These services include a national helpline service, counselling and training courses for parents and professionals.

For further information, visit onefamily.ie.

PRESS RELEASE: One Family Pushes for Urgent Lone-Parent Support Measures in 2025 Pre-Budget Submission | October 2024

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One Family, Ireland’s leading national organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and separating, has today released its Pre-Budget Submission for Budget 2025. The proposals highlight the urgent need for targeted measures to address the challenges faced by one-parent families, with a focus on child poverty, income inadequacy and social supports.

As highlighted by recent data, Ireland is facing a worsening crisis in homelessness, energy costs, education under-investment and income inequality. A record 14,429 people in Ireland, including 4,401 children, are now in emergency accommodation. Meanwhile, energy debt continues to soar, with electricity arrears increasing by 46% in 2024, according to the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities. The last CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions showed the real median household disposable income fell across all household types in Ireland, and the most for households with children aged under 18 – these families saw their real income fall by almost 8% last year alone. Amongst the other groups whose consistent poverty rates were greater than the national average, the figure for households with one adult and children aged under 18 years was 7%. Most recently, the Economic and Social Research Institute revealed that material deprivation for children has risen to 20%, with average disposable incomes consistently falling due to inflation.

These utterly shocking figures show that households with children, and one-parent families in particular, continue to face disproportionate levels of poverty. Currently, 25% of all families with children in Ireland are headed by a lone parent, and these families experience significantly higher levels of poverty and deprivation compared to two-parent households. Overall, lone parents experience the highest deprivation rate of any household type in Ireland: 2.5 times the national average.

Like other organisations in our sector, in its submission, One Family emphasises that addressing homelessness and housing insecurity, ensuring income adequacy and making significant investments in education and childcare should be top priorities for Budget 2025, as well as for the current and future Governments. Based on all the latest research, expert advice and public opinion polls, there is a clear need for targeted supports for the people most in need in Ireland.

Moreover, the well-documented budget surplus could comfortably cover the cost of more evidence-based, targeted social-support measures rather than the few standard cost-of-living temporary schemes currently considered. One Family urges the Government to spend these funds in a way that adequately addresses the most pressing challenges in society by directing supports and measures towards the most disadvantaged groups. It appears, however, that costly universal benefits and seasonal top-up payments that benefit energy providers rather than social recipients are still the Government’s preferred options – these were repeatedly proven to be insufficient for the purpose of helping the families on the lowest incomes as well as for tackling child and family poverty effectively, or at all, in real terms.

Our budget proposals reflect the urgent need for long-term, structural changes that will support the most vulnerable families in Ireland and prioritise one-parent households in particular. It is now time for the Government to make good on its promises to end child poverty and family deprivation overall by developing a budgetary policy that includes, among other things, adequate funding of the Government’s own Child Poverty and Wellbeing Office and its programme’s priority areas.

One Family‘s key recommendations for Budget 2025 call for a series of actions to alleviate child poverty and support one-parent families so as to ensure that they can live with dignity and security, including:

  • Raising the Qualified Child Increase payment by €6 for children under 12 and €15 for children over 12.
  • Increasing income disregards for One-Parent Family and Jobseekers’ Transitional payments from €165 to €205, in line with the National Minimum Wage.
  • Expanding Fuel Allowance eligibility to all households in receipt of the Working Family Payment and increase its payable period from 28 to 32 weeks.

Click to read the Pre Budget Submission 2025

QUOTES

 

Karen Kiernan, One Family CEO’s statement:

“One-parent families in Ireland are at the highest risk of poverty and enforced deprivation. The government must take decisive action in Budget 2025 to address income inadequacy and make targeted investments that truly benefit these families.” 

 

Carly Bailey, One Family Policy Manager’s statement:

“Poverty is never inevitable, and we urge the Government to step up on the 1st of October. If they are serious about tackling child poverty and reducing deprivation rates, Budget 2025 must provide a genuine social safety net through which no family can fall through the cracks. Government now has the means to provide that safety net through targeted measures. There can be no more delays or excuses made.”

 

CONTACT

For more information on or to arrange an interview with a One Family spokesperson, please contact:

Diana Valentine
Press & Communications
comms@onefamily.ie
Mobile/WhatsApp: 0834470645

 

FOR EDITORS

One Family is Ireland’s national organisation for one-parent families and people sharing parenting or separating. It offers support, information and services to all members of all one-parent families, to those sharing parenting, to those experiencing an unplanned pregnancy and to professionals working with one-parent families.

Children are at the centre of One Family’s work and the organisation helps all the adults in their lives, including mums, dads, grandparents, stepparents, new partners and other siblings, offering a holistic model of specialist family support services. These services include a national helpline service, counselling and training courses for parents and professionals.

For further information, visit onefamily.ie.