Budget fails to provide income security for most vulnerable families

Budget 2021 was a missed opportunity to provide income security for Ireland’s poorest families. National statistics consistently highlight one-parent families as among the worst off in society and children in these families being particularly vulnerable to poverty and deprivation. Since 2016, there have been 12 major reports on lone parents and poverty all with similar recommendations. While Budget 2021 has some welcome measures; Government have not used the evidence available to them. Parents and children are struggling now and will continue to do so after this Budget.  The Budget does little to help working lone parents keep their job if their children are sick and contains no targeted supports for one-parent families and nothing on childcare – the most pressing issue for working lone parents.

Karen Kiernan CEO of One Family said, “We welcome that Government listened (even partially) to us and made necessary increases to the Qualified Child Increase (QCI) and Fuel Allowance. We are disappointed that the Working Family Payment (WFP) has not been adjusted to support people parenting alone although the increase is welcome. And we welcome the change to the One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) though this will impact only a small number of parents. But we are concerned that Government is not using the evidence available and seems happy to adopt a scattergun approach rather than introduce targeted measures for the most vulnerable.  Budget 2021 does nothing to lift families currently living in poverty out of it. It maintains the status quo; but the status quo kept thousands of children in poverty. We had hoped for a strategic and progressive vision of the future with targeted measures for the most vulnerable, what we got was a little for everyone.”

“We understand the difficult decisions Government must make in the midst of a double threat of the pandemic and Brexit but Ireland’s most vulnerable families need targeted supports. We call on Government to use the evidence that is available.”

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“We understand the difficult decisions Government must make in the midst of a double threat of the pandemic and Brexit but Ireland’s most vulnerable families need targeted supports. We call on Government to use the evidence that is available.”

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Note to editors:

About One Family:

One Family is Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and separating, offering 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, step-parents, new partners and other siblings, offering a holistic model of specialist family support services.

These services include the lo-call askonefamily national helpline on 1890 662212, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals.

Read One Family’s Pre-Budget Submission.

Read our Budget 2021 Factsheet.

Statistics on one-parent families:

There were 218,817 family units with children (of any age) headed by a lone parent (Census 2016).

  • 1 in 4 families with children in Ireland is a one-parent family (Census 2016).
  • 1 in 5 people in Ireland live in a one-parent family (Census 2016).
  • 356,203 children lived in one-parent families, representing more than one in five or 21.2% of all children in family units (Census 2016).
  • In November 2018, 14,349 One-Parent Family Payment recipients (39 per cent of all recipients) are in employment, and of 14,418 Jobseeker’s Transition recipients, 4,037 recipients work. The Working Family Payment is an important support for working parents; almost half of recipients are households headed by a lone parent.
  • The Survey on Income and Living Conditions 2017 (SILC) revealed that one-parent family households experience the most deprivation in Ireland. Almost 45% of lone parent households experience more than one form of deprivation.
  • 55% of homeless families living in emergency accommodation are one-parent families, at any time.

For further information visit: www.onefamily.ie.

Available for Interview

Karen Kiernan, CEO | t: 01 662 9212 or 086 850 9191

Further Information/Scheduling

Noel Sweeney, Communications and Events Manager | t: 01 622 9212 or 085 7241294