Statement

One Family’s Response to Minister Varadkar’s Statement on Lone Parents and Educational Supports

One Family is disappointed to read Minister Varadkar’s statement of 17 August 2016 in relation to lone parents accessing education.  While the Minister has correctly outlined a number of supports currently available to people parenting alone, the statement fails to recognise some of the major barriers faced by lone parents trying to access education which have recently been discussed in the media.

• As highlighted in One Family’s Pre-Budget Submission those in receipt of Rent Supplement should be permitted to engage in full-time education. This would remove a number of structural barriers which currently prevent these parents from accessing education. Currently the only option available to those dependent on Rent Supplement is to apply for Back to Education Allowance (BTEA). Ability to stay in education should not be linked to housing tenure.
• The BTEA and the SUSI maintenance grant should be payable together to lone parents who are undertaking an educational or training course. The current system provides no additional income to meet the costs of childcare, course materials and travel costs.
• We also recommend that the Department extend Jobseeker’s Transition Payment (JST) to those who are engaging in education, regardless of the age of their youngest child (up to a limit of 18).

We agree with the Minister that inaccurate information is a cause for concern. One Family have continually called for more clarity and information to be made available by the Department of Social Protection (DSP) to lone parents who are being transitioned off the One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) when their youngest child reaches seven years old. It is imperative that all available options open to parents are explored and explained clearly when a parent is required to change their primary social welfare payment. The OFP reform has been rife with implementation issues and the people suffering from this insufficient planning are lone parents who are already struggling financially and their children. We are aware of a number of cases through our askonefamily helpline where parents have been misinformed as to their entitlements and options.

The DSP have consistently promoted Family Income Supplement (FIS) and the short-term Back to Work Family Dividend (BTWFD) as the best option for lone parents who are working a minimum of nineteen hours when they lose their entitlement to OFP. However, due to the complex nature of our social welfare and educational systems, this may not be the best option for every parent, particularly if they wish to access education at a later stage and require financial supports such as the Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) in order to do so. While there may be a temporary financial gain to moving from OFP to FIS and BTWFD, if a lone parent has future intentions to enhance their skills and employability through further education or training, it may be a viable option to remain on JST as this is a qualifying payment for access to BTEA.

The emphasis on work and FIS often forces lone parents to maintain employment in low-wage jobs with unpredictable work to support their families, rather than receiving training or education to obtain higher-paying jobs that could lift them out of poverty in the longer term.

Minister Varadkar also outlines the option to work part-time while studying. Given that there are no financial supports available for part-time study at third level, the Minister is effectively suggesting that a lone parent should work part-time while attending full-time education, and also juggling their full-time parenting responsibilities in the absence of affordable childcare to support this option. This statement shows a lack of understanding and awareness of the issues being discussed here.

The suggestion by the Minister that broadening access to BTEA is “wide open to abuse” is in our view a derogatory observation which implies that social welfare recipients are attempting to use social supports in a dishonest fashion; an implication that our clients often tell us they experience in their local social welfare offices. We strongly recommend that the DSP adopt an innovative and supportive stance to removing the barriers impacting the vulnerable families that they aim to support rather than over-focussing on the possibility of fraud. These barriers facing poor families are multidimensional, interconnected and complex. Government actions must take them into account and ensure access to affordable, secure housing and to affordable childcare, and finally address our society’s long history of employment and educational discrimination.

Karen Kiernan

CEO, One Family

/Ends.

Press Release

Lone Parents Thwarted by Systemic Barriers to Accessing Education

Improving access to education and employment for parents will lead to ending child poverty.

(Dublin, Monday 8 August 2016) One Family – Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting, and separating – again calls on Government to remove the systemic barriers to education and employment that people parenting alone are thwarted by. Lone parents must be offered an equal chance to progress their and their children’s futures.

Minister for Social Protection, Leo Varadkar, and Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone, have promised to address the serious issue of child poverty which disproportionally affects children living in one-parent families, and committed to lifting 97,000 children out of consistent poverty. It is by supporting parents in one-parent families to access and remain in education and employment that this can be achieved.  Again, One Family calls for Budget 2017 to urgently address these barriers and to acknowledge the realities for those who parent alone.

Karen Kiernan, One Family CEO, comments: “For years, we’ve been asking Government, ‘Where’s the education and childcare for lone parents for sustainable jobs?’  Research shows that it is not family form which impacts most on children’s outcomes, but poverty and the education level of parents. Enabling and encouraging access to education, for those parents who clearly wish to increase their qualifications, is where Government could be making a real difference. The main barriers facing a lone parent in accessing or returning to education include the lack of financial supports; that someone’s housing tenure is a factor, as Back To Education Allowance (BTEA) and the SUSI maintenance grant are not payable together so that those in private rented accommodation are at a disadvantage; and that there is no childcare support for those going into third level education.”

Government has committed to commission an independent examination to identify the supports and barriers to accessing higher education for lone parents and to examine measures to increase participation, and One Family will contribute to this report.

Karen continues: “This is an important report, though what we will need to see is action. Government must show that it is resourcing one-parent families rather than penalising them. An unnecessarily complex system contributes to these systemic barriers still being in place. Yet Government stated that reform of the One Parent Family Payment and introduction of the Job Seekers’ Transition were ‘to give lone parents seven years to get into education and then into work.’  Where are the opportunities? Where are the supports? Where are the Out-of -School childcare services to support parents, whatever age their children are?”

One Family reiterates its call to Government to enact the recommendations of its Pre-Budget Submission, with an immediate focus on provision of affordable and accessible quality local childcare.  Every parent should have an equal opportunity to create a better future for his or her children.

Lone parents who would like support on accessing education can call askonefamily on 1890 66 22 12 / 01 662 9212. Lone parents who would like to share their perspective on accessing education which One Family can include in its contribution to the commissioned Government report, can email info@onefamily.ie.

One Family’s Pre-Budget Submission 2017 can be read/downloaded here.

/Ends.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

• 1 in 8 people in Ireland live in a one-parent family (Census 2011)
• 1 in 4 families with children in Ireland is a one-parent family (Census 2011)
• Over half a million people live in one-parent families in Ireland (Census 2011)
• 5% of one-parent families are headed by a father (Census 2011)
• Almost 1 in 5 children (18.3%) live in a one-parent family (Census 2011)
• There are over 215,000 one-parent families in Ireland today – 25.8% of all families with children (Census 2011)

About One Family

One Family was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families and people sharing parenting, or 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 66 22 12, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals. One Family also promotes Family Day and presents the Family Day Festival every May, an annual celebration of the diversity of families in Ireland today (www.familyday.ie). For further information, visit www.onefamily.ie.

Further Information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Shirley Chance, Director of Communications | t: 01 662 9212 or 087 414 8511
Jane Farrell, Communications & Marketing Officer | t: 01 662 9096 or 087 623 0166

Most parents work really hard all through the school year, keeping track of what children are learning and ensuring homework gets done. But keeping your child’s brain engaged over the summer can be challenging. If you don’t keep them engaged it could take four to six weeks for them to become fully alert when they return to school in September.

The question is, how you do keep them engaged without becoming their summer teacher? Here are tips to keep your child’s brain active all summer:

• Most libraries hold reading challenges over the summer. Encouraging your child to join the reading challenge can be a fun way to have a more diverse range of books in your home. Libraries are usually very good at supporting children and young people to find books that they are interested in and will enjoy.
• Encourage your child to keep a diary from the age of five years old. This can be a great way to support children. Not only are you asking them to write, you are asking them to think about how they feel, to create stories, to reflect on their day and on their relationships. They can share their entries with you or keep it private. It is a lovely gift to introduce to any child. You can get diaries from €1 to €10 depending on how fancy or lockable you want it to be. You never know, you could be creating a novelist, but regardless, their spelling and writing should benefit.
• Get your children to think about adding and subtracting e.g. when buying groceries get them to calculate the shopping bill. Maths does not have to be sums on paper. Help your child to see how we use numbers every day.
• Why not look for some new TV programmes to watch this summer that have more educational value e.g. animal documentaries and quiz programmes. When you start to engage with such programmes as a family it can lead to whole new conversations.
• Enjoy days out. There is so much for children to see and hear, people to meet and culture and diversity to experience. Taking children to historic sites or museums, festivals, religious sites or even on nature walks can help them to relate to information they learn in their school books.
• Finally, just take time to play and engage with your children − usually we are so busy it can be hard to find time to just sit and talk. Get to know your child. Help them to get to know you. How many of us really know our parents. Play, have fun, laugh, and share what life has to offer and you will have covered the full curriculum this summer and prepared your child well for next term.

This article is by One Family’s Director of Children & Parenting Services, Geraldine Kelly, as part of our weekly series of parenting tips. You can read the full series here.

Find out more about our parenting skills programmes and parent supports. For support and information on these or any related topics, call askonefamily on lo-call 1890 66 22 12 or on 01 662 9212.

Press Release

Budget 2017 Must Make Work Pay for One-Parent Families 

 Ending Child Poverty in Ireland can only be achieved by improving access to employment and making work pay.

 (Dublin, Friday 8th July 2016) One Family – Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting, and separating – calls on the Government to start the process of lifting 97,000 children out of consistent poverty by supporting parents in one-parent families access employment and develop supports to ensure they can stay in the workforce.  Both the Minister for Social Protection, Leo Varadkar, and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone, have promised to address the serious issue of child poverty which disproportionally affects children living in one-parent families. One Family holds the Ministers to this commitment and asks that Budget 2017 is used to urgently address child poverty and invest in services and targeted income supports.

Valerie Maher, One Family Policy and Programmes Manager, states: “Lone parents want to work and to access education so that they can create positive outcomes for their children, yet Government consistently implies that they need to be compelled to do so. One Family’s Pre-Budget Submission focuses on the need to invest in services such as childcare, education and housing as well as the need to target income supports for Ireland’s poorest children. This is how Budget 2017 can help the poorest children in Ireland.”

Karen Kiernan, One Family CEO, adds: “The relevant Government departments must ensure that work pays, particularly for families moving off social welfare. Time spent on the Jobseeker’s Transition payment could really support parents to access education, training and work experience if the right supports were put in place. We need the income disregard for Jobseeker Transition and the One-Parent Family Payment recipients to be reinstated to 2011 levels of €146.50 so work pays.  Also lone parents should be able to participate in Community Employment schemes through an additional payment of €50 per week.”

Karen continues “Budget 2017 must demonstrate a firm commitment from the Government in working towards resourcing one-parent families rather than penalising them, and to work towards ending the shameful spectre of child poverty in Ireland.”

One Family’s Pre-Budget Submission 2017 can be downloaded here

Ends

NOTES FOR EDITORS

• 1 in 8 people in Ireland live in a one-parent family (Census 2011)
• 1 in 4 families with children in Ireland is a one-parent family (Census 2011)
• Over half a million people live in one-parent families in Ireland (Census 2011)
• 13.5%of one-parent families are headed by a father (Census 2011)
• Almost 1 in 5 children (18.3%) live in a one-parent family (Census 2011)
• There are over 215,000 one-parent families in Ireland today – 25.8%of all families with children (Census 2011)

One Family Pre-Budget Submission

About One Family

One Family was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families and people sharing parenting, or separating. It offers support, information and services to all members of 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 66 22 12, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals. One Family also promotes Family Day and presents the Family Day Festival every Summer, an annual celebration of the diversity of families in Ireland today (www.familyday.ie). For further information, visit www.onefamily.ie.

Available for Interview

Valerie Maher, Policy & Programmes Manager, One Family

Karen Kiernan, CEO, One Family

For further information/scheduling please contact:

Shirley Chance, Director of Communications | t: 01 662 9212 or 087 414 8511

Jane Farrell, Communications & Marketing Officer | t: 01 662 9096

Press Release

Ireland’s First National Shared Parenting Survey Launched Today

One Family will finally capture the reality for thousands of parents and children in Ireland who are not recognised

(Dublin, Monday 4^th July 2016) Today One Family – Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting, and separating – launches the first National Survey on Shared Parenting in Ireland. Founded as Cherish in 1972, One Family has almost 45 years experience of working with and representing one-parent families. Our experience shows that many lone parents share parenting to some extent with their child’s other parent, even though they live separately and are not in a relationship with each other. However, this reality for many thousands of children and parents in Ireland is not recognised or understood meaning that services, polices and laws which could support them are severely lacking.

This initiative aims to capture data on not only the amount of lone parents who share parenting, but the commitments agreed – be they financial, on joint decision making, or on residential or contact time; and how Ireland’s services and polices work or do not work for their family form. The data gathered will finally give a voice to these parents and their children, which can inform appropriate policies and services in the future.

Karen Kiernan, One Family CEO, comments: “Why is this survey needed? Based on the experiences of people who access our services, we believe over 50% and up to 80% of lone parents in Ireland may share parenting, yet the supports they need simply do not exist.  Relationship separation is often a time of great hurt and anger, meaning that establishing a shared parenting agreement which keeps children at the centre of parenting can be immensely challenging. This lack of recognition, including supports around mediation, establishing a shared parenting plan, and Family Law Courts, for example, can pile on additional stress.”

Also today One Family has launched its Annual Review 2015, and a new Strategy for 2016-2018. Calls to its helpline askonefamily increased by another 20% in 2015. The increase was driven largely by governmental reform of the One-Parent Family Payment, with especially negative impacts on parents working part-time who experienced a large income reduction on already tight budgets. Calls related to issues around shared parenting also increased.

Karen continues: “Strategy 2016-2018 outlines One Family’s ongoing commitment to cherish all children and all families. We continue to work towards a society that does not discriminate based on family type, and to call for the broadening of the Constitutional definition of the family to ensure respect and recognition of all the different family types children live in. Attitudinal change in society and at policy level is urgently required if we are to afford equality to all families, and to reduce child poverty rates by 2020 in line with Government commitments. Evidence shows that it is not family form that most impacts on a child’s well-being and future outcomes, but challenges like poverty, and access to education. Capturing information and recognising the realities for many thousands of shared parenting families in Ireland, which our National Survey is designed to achieve, is essential so that proper supports can be put in place to ensure these better outcomes.”

The National Survey on Shared Parenting is anonymous and should take approximately ten minutes to complete. It is available online on this link.

Dani, aged 10, talks about One Family’s Annual Review and the current situation for one-parent families in Ireland in a short video available to view here, which includes Karen Kiernan discussing Strategy 2016-2018 and what is needed to create more positive futures for one-parent families.

Notes for Editors

• 1 in 8 people in Ireland live in a one-parent family (Census 2011)
• 1 in 4 families with children in Ireland is a one-parent family (Census 2011)
• Over half a million people live in one-parent families in Ireland (Census 2011)
• 13.5% of one-parent families are headed by a father (Census 2011)
• Almost 1 in 5 children (18.3%) live in a one-parent family (Census 2011)
• There are over 215,000 one-parent families in Ireland today – 25.8% of all families with children (Census 2011)
• Family Relationships and Family Well-Being: A Study of the Families of Nine Year-Olds in Ireland by Tony Fahey, Patricia Keilthy and Ela Polek (2012): Shared Parenting in Lone Parent and Step Families (pg. 24) contains information on shared parenting in Ireland and can be can be read here.

About One Family

One Family was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families and people sharing parenting, or 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 66 22 12, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals. One Family also promotes Family Day and presents the Family Day Festival every May, an annual celebration of the diversity of families in Ireland today (www.familyday.ie). For further information, visit www.onefamily.ie.

Available for Interview

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

Press Release

Tomorrow we celebrate UN International Day of Families –

as Irish Constitution condemns thousands to second rate status

(Dublin, 14 May 2016) Tomorrow, Sunday 15 May, is UN International Day of Families. Thousands of families will enjoy celebrating Family Day at One Family’s free Family Day Festival in Wolfe Tone Square, Dublin 1. One Family, Ireland’s organisation for one-parent families, presents the Family Day Festival every year calling on everyone to celebrate their family and celebrate all families.

One Family CEO Karen Kiernan warns, though: “Ireland has been through enormous social change in the past few years, we are just coming up to the first anniversary of the marriage equality referendum. However, it is important to remember that our Constitution is still out of step with the reality of families in Ireland as Article 41 only recognises and supports the marital family.”

One Family has been calling for Constitutional equality for all families since its foundation as Cherish in 1972. The annual Family Day Festival is a way to reflect the reality of the diversity of families living in Ireland today. The Festival provides a free, fun day of family-friendly activities and entertainment including Ireland’s Biggest Family Tree.

Karen continues: “In Ireland now one in three children are born to parents who are not married to each other; one in three families do not conform to the traditional model of a married couple in their first marriage; and one in five children live in one-parent families. There is a wonderful opportunity for the Citizens’ Assembly to look at Article 41 in the lifetime of this government. The United Nations theme for International Day of Families 2016 is ‘families, healthy lives and sustainable futures’. Let’s make Ireland a fair place for every child to live in.”

ABOUT THE FAMILY DAY FESTIVAL

The sixth annual Family Day Festival runs from 11am-5pm in Wolfe Tone Square (beside Jervis Centre), Dublin 1 on Sunday 15 May, with a jam-packed programme of free, family-friendly fun, entertainment, games and creativity. This is an un-ticketed, free event. The Family Day Festival is presented by One Family with the support of DublinTown and Dublin City Council.

For programme and additional information visit: www.familyday.ie.

/Ends.

About One Family

One Family was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families and people sharing parenting or 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 66 22 12, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals. One Family also promotes Family Day and presents the Family Day Festival every May, an annual celebration of the diversity of families in Ireland today (www.familyday.ie). For further information, visit www.onefamily.ie.

Available for Interview

Karen Kiernan, CEO | t: 086 850 9191

Further Information and Images

Shirley Chance, Director of Communications | t: 01 662 9212 or 087 414 8511

Get those runners ready to join the One Family team in this year’s Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon 2017!

The Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon starts at 2pm on Bank Holiday Monday, 5 June.

Find entry forms in The Herald every Wednesday and Saturday or sign up online here.

Start your fundraising for One Family here using iDonate.

Your Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon fundraising for One Family will support us as we continue to provide vital services for parents and children of one-parent families. Our services include the askonefamily helpline, counselling, supports for young people in care, play therapy, parent mentoring and mediation, social outings, and training programmes.

Let us know when you’ve registered by emailing us, and we will give you information on receiving your One Family t-shirt. It’s going to be fun!

#RunOne

#Vhiwmm

Race information:

Date/Time: Bank Holiday Monday, 5th June 2017 at 2.00pm

Distance: 10K.

Start Line: Fitzwilliam Street Upper, Dublin 2.

Finish Line: Baggot Street Upper, Dublin 2.

Entry Closing Date: 28th April 2017 or when maximum number of entries is reached.

Fee: €20.00 entry fee + €1 processing charge

Press Release

Ireland’s Biggest Family Tree to be Created on Sunday 15^th May

Annual Family Day Festival celebrates family diversity in Ireland today.

 Family Day Festival | Sunday 15 May 2016 | www.familyday.ie

 (Dublin, Monday 18^th April 2016) One Family – Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and separating – celebrates the wonderful diversity of families in Ireland with its sixth annual Family Day Festival taking place on Sunday 15 May from 11am-5pm in Wolfe Tone Square, Dublin 1. Brimming over with free fun and festivities, family-friendly performances, games, workshops, story-telling and lots more including Ireland’s Biggest Family Tree.

Karen Kiernan, One Family CEO, comments: “Many people celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and of course these are important, but what’s different about Family Day is that it’s inclusive of all families. One Family has been working for equality for all families in Ireland since 1972. We founded Family Day, inspired by the UN International Day of Families on 15 May annually, so that all families whatever form they take have a day where they can celebrate. Family Day is for all children – whether living in a one-parent family; married family; with unmarried parents; with same-sex parents; a foster family; extended family or friends; or any of the myriad family forms in society – so they can know that their family is valued and included.”

This year One Family will create Ireland’s Biggest Family Tree. Children across the country can draw a portrait of their own family on our leaf template which can be downloaded from www.familyday.ie. These leaves will be combined and displayed on our colourful Biggest Family Tree at Family Day on Sunday 15^th May. Drawing a Family Tree can be challenging but this project aims to instil a sense of pride in one’s family, whatever form it may take. Karen further comments:  “We’ve worked with diverse families for nearly 45 years and our evidence reflects what reputable research also shows: what matters for children’s outcomes is not the form their family takes, but the quality of relationships they have at home. We created Family Day a decade ago to help raise awareness of how family diversity is a positive thing for society. We still have a lot of work to do as our Constitution does not yet acknowledge this reality, and many of the families we work with are struggling more than ever.  But Family Day is one day we can all get together, celebrate all family forms and simply have fun. “

One Family gratefully acknowledges Dublin Town and Dublin City Council for their support of Family Day 2016. Full event information is on www.familyday.ie

IRELAND’S BIGGEST FAMILY TREE

Be part of Ireland’s Biggest Family Tree! Ireland’s Biggest Family Tree will be created on Sunday 15th May 2016 in Wolfe Tone Square, Dublin 1. Children nationwide can be part of it. Families come in all shapes and sizes and everyone should have pride in their family form. All families matter and all families are equal.

Download the Biggest Family Tree Leaf here:

http://www.familyday.ie/wp-content/uploads/family_day_leaf_2016.pdf

TICKETS

This is an un-ticketed, free event.

 LISTINGS

Sunday 15 May | Family Day Festival presented by One Family in celebration of family diversity | Family-friendly fun for all ages: magic, music, games, comedy, story-telling, arts & crafts, and lots more! | Wolfe Tone Square, beside Jervis Centre, Dublin 1 | 11am-5pm | FREE | www.familyday.ie / 01 662 9212

One Family acts as a stakeholder within the FamiliesAndSocieties project which aims to investigate the diversity of family forms, relationships, and life courses in Europe; to assess the compatibility of existing policies to family changes; and to contribute to evidence-based policy-making.

Stakeholders are an integral part of the project; providing a link between the research outputs and how they can be translated into family policies across Europe. One Family uses its knowledge and expertise from working with one-parent, shared parenting and separating families to highlight policy implications and to suggest appropriate and workable policy response.

Valerie Maher, our Policy & Programmes Manager, attended the third annual FamiliesAndSocieties meeting and stakeholder workshop earlier this year.

Some of the findings of FamiliesAndSocieties from February 2013 to December 2015 include:

• Family forms have become more varied and individual and family life courses are increasingly diverse. We need to be aware of different family forms and treat them equally; policy to support children irrespective of family forms they live in is imperative.
• Vulnerable families and their wellbeing – lone parents and large families are more “at risk” because the reconciliation of work and family is particularly challenging for them. This can lead to economic problems as well as impacting on social and emotional wellbeing (e.g. time pressure and stress, reduction of social contacts, less quality time with children).
• Forces that might be crucial for the wellbeing of (vulnerable) families were often related to worklife balance (e.g. changes in institutional childcare provision, changing gender roles) as well as the role of the “culture of work” and employers’ attitudes towards family responsibilities of their employees.

You can read more about FamiliesAndSocieties here, including the outputs and results of the project to date.

askonefamily is a helpline offering information and listening support for men and women who may be parenting alone, sharing parenting or separating. The helpline is also available to extended family, friends or professionals.

People call askonefamily for all kinds of reasons. They may have a question about their financial situation, maybe they are finding it difficult to communicate with their child’s other parent, or they may simply need a listening ear. Some other queries include:

• Parenting
• Family law issues
• Talking to your child about their family situation
• Social welfare benefits and entitlements
• Relationship breakdown
• Housing
• Childcare
• Return to education or employment

Call us on 1890 66 22 12  or 01 662 9212, from Monday to Friday between 10am-2pm. We also offer an email service for information.

The askonefamily helpline has been offered by One Family since 2004, supporting many thousands of parents by providing information, listening to their concerns, and letting them know about other available services both here in One Family and in their local community. When you call the helpline you will talk with one of the askonefamily team, either a staff member or a volunteer. This will be someone with training in non-directive listening and experience of parenting or working with families. We all need a listening ear at times or we might need information when we have a decision to make. When you call askonefamily you can expect to be listened to and given the right information that you need.

1890 66 22 12 is a lo-call number from land lines, but call rates to lo-call (1850/1890) numbers from mobile phones may vary. You should check specific details with your mobile service provider.

One Family has been campaigning for equal rights for lone parents and those who are sharing parenting in the lead up to the election. The One Family election manifesto has six key points that need to be addressed by the next government to ensure these concerns are heard and dealt with.

1. Work to end child poverty in Ireland.
2. Ensure that work pays for everyone.
3. Undertake a full review of the One Family Payment Reforms.
4. Support shared parenting.
5. Recognise and protect all families in the Constitution, not just married families.
6. Invest in our family law courts and services.

We have analysed each party manifesto to identify their commitments to these six points in the document below.

Election Promises to One Family

With just one week to go until General Election 2016, we urge everyone to email their local candidates to ensure that one-parent families are on their agenda. We are calling for six key commitments which you can read about below.

It’s easy to email all of your local candidates in just one minute; click here. You can also download two handy documents with questions and take away messages for candidates who call to your door, to help ensure that they know that these issues matter for all families in Ireland.

#GE2016 #EndChildPovery #MyFamilyMatters

Use the social share buttons below to ask your friends and family to support our Election Manifesto for one-parent families.

On Monday the 18th January 2016, some parts of the Child and Family Relationships Act 2015 were commenced. These changes in legislation may have a direct impact on those parenting alone, sharing parenting and parenting after separation so the following information on Guardianship, Custody, Access and Maintenance may be relevant to you:

Guardianship

• For an unmarried father this means that he may automatically become a guardian of his child if he has lived with the mother on a continuous basis for 12 months and at least 3 of these months must be after the birth of the child.

This 12 month period only takes effect from the date this was enacted, so from the 18^th January 2016 and is not retrospective.

• For other family members, such as grandparents, civil partners, step-parents and others who have acted in “loco parentis” (in the place of the parent) of a child they may apply to court for guardianship. The requirements for this is that a person is in a relationship, either in marriage or civil partnership, or has lived with the parent of a child for over 3 years and has shared the day to day care of the child for at least 2 years.

• If a person has cared for a child on a day to day to basis, continuously for 12 months and there is no parent or guardian able or willing to exercise the rights and responsibilities for the child then they may apply for guardianship, so for example this may be a grandparent caring for their grandchild or a foster parent caring for a child.

Access

• For grandparents the Act means that they can now apply directly to the District court for access with their grandchildren, if they do not already have access.

Custody

• A court may make an order for custody following an application by a person other than the mother or father. This may be a person who is a relative of the child; it may be a person with who the child has resided with, or if the person is married to, in a civil partnership with or who has cohabited with the parent of the child for at least 3 years and has been involved in the day to day care of the child for at least 2 years. A person may also seek custody where the child has resided with this person who has had day to day care of the child and who does not have a parent or guardian who is able or willing to take on the responsibilities of being the guardian.

Maintenance

• A maintenance order may be sought, requiring the cohabiting partner of a child’s parent to pay maintenance for the child, provided they are a guardian of the child.

Enforcement Orders

• These relate to access and custody whereby if a court order is made in respect of custody or access and this is unreasonably denied or not taken up then a parent or guardian may apply for an enforcement order. Such an order may require that:

A parent or guardian, or both attend counselling, mediation or a parenting programme

That additional access may be granted

That a parent or guardian be reimbursed for expenses as a result of the denial of access or the refusal to take up access.

Any decision made by the court will be made in the best interests of the child and the court will consider the views of the child where possible given his/her age and understanding.

Press Release

One Family releases General Election 2016 Manifesto

(Dublin, Tuesday 15^th December 2015) One Family – Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone and sharing parenting – releases its General Election 2016 Manifesto calling on all parties and candidates running in the Election to commit to tackling family inequality in Ireland today.

The six point Manifesto outlines key areas that need to be addressed by the next Government to ensure members of one-parent families and those sharing parenting have equal opportunities in work, family law courts, an increased standard of living and representation in the Constitution.

Karen Kiernan, One Family CEO, comments: “Today we launch our Election 2016 Manifesto against a background of an Ireland that has to reduce the gap between families that have and those who are still struggling. The vast majority of Ireland’s poorest children live in one-parent families without the services, respect or laws to protect and support them to live their lives to their full potential.”

Kiernan continues: “We have set out a clear message, with six crucial points, that if followed would help eradicate the inequality faced by one-parent families and contribute to a positive future for all families.  In this time of great reflection for our country we call on candidates to ensure these families have an opportunity to live the ideals of our nation’s founders. Nearly 100 years on from the 1916 Proclamation we have yet to cherish all children in our society equally.”

One Family’s six point Manifesto calls on a commitment to:

1. Work to end child poverty in Ireland
2. Ensure work pays for everyone
3. Undertake a full review of the One Parent Family payment reforms
4. Support shared parenting
5. Recognise and protect all families in the Constitution, not just married families
6. Invest in our family law courts and services

Download the One Family Election 2016 Manifesto here

About One Family

One Family was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families and people sharing parenting or 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 66 22 12, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals. One Family also promotes Family Day and presents the Family Day Festival every May, an annual celebration of the diversity of families in Ireland today (www.familyday.ie). For further information, visit www.onefamily.ie. The askonefamily helpline can be contacted on lo-call 1890 66 22 12.

Available for Interview

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

Further Information/Scheduling

Jane Farrell, Communications & Marketing Officer |01 6629212 | jfarrell@onefamily.ie

Shirley Chance, Director of Communications | 01 664 0124 | schance@onefamily.ie

Press Release

One-Parent Families have by far the least wealth in Ireland

TASC report 2015 ‘The Distribution of Wealth in Ireland Today’

www.onefamily.ie

(Dublin, Wednesday 9^th December 2015) One Family – Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone and sharing parenting – reacts to the report released today by TASC on the distribution of wealth in Ireland.

Karen Kiernan, One Family CEO, comments: “Today’s TASC report shows that those with the lowest levels of wealth in Ireland are one-parent families. We at One Family witness the impact this has on the families we work with on a day to day basis. Parents are struggling to keep their heads above water and are becoming increasingly isolated as the gap between those who have and haven’t increases. The report shows that the average household has a net worth seven times greater than the average for a single parent household.”

Kiernan continues: “The report also show that more than half of all single parents have less than €300 in savings, compared to €4,000 for single person households. This puts these families in a precarious position should any unforeseen expenses arise. Our next Government must prioritise the dangerously high levels of poverty experienced by many children and parents living in one-parent families.”

The TASC report details the facts that one-parent families are:

• Less likely to own their own home and face significant barriers to owning property.
• Have business assets at 1/5 of the average rate of people in Ireland.
• Have savings of €300 on average, less than 10% of others.
• Have double the rates of debt to assets and are credit constrained at three times the rate of average households.
• The average household has a net worth seven times greater than the average for a single parent household.
• The average net wealth for a single parent is €30,600 which compares to an average figure of €218,700 for all households. Half of all single parents have less than €1,400 in net wealth.

A copy of the report is available here.

About One Family

One Family was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families and people sharing parenting or 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 66 22 12, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals. One Family also promotes Family Day and presents the Family Day Festival every May, an annual celebration of the diversity of families in Ireland today (www.familyday.ie). For further information, visit www.onefamily.ie. The askonefamily helpline can be contacted on lo-call 1890 66 22 12.

Available for Interview

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

Press Release

One-Parent Families Experience Highest Deprivation and Poverty in Ireland – Shameful!

SILC Report 2014 Launched Today

www.onefamily.ie

(Dublin, Thursday 26^th November 2015) One Family – Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone and sharing parenting – reacts to the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) 2014 results published today, which clearly show that people parenting alone and their children remain  the poorest families in Ireland.

Karen Kiernan, One Family CEO, comments: “Today’s SILC results show that those with the highest rates of deprivation at nearly 60% are one-parent families. This is combined in the 2014 results with the fact that the most common type of family living in consistent poverty are also people parenting alone. This is a direct result of government choices and policies and it is unacceptable to continue to sentence a generation of children to a lifetime of poverty and poor life chances.”

Kiernan continues: “People parenting alone tell us through our monthly surveys, askonefamily helpline and our family support services that they constantly live on the knife edge of poverty. Government continues to enforce ill-formed activation measures without the provision of effective supports such the long-promised, affordable quality childcare.”

One Family recorded a staggering 30% increase of callers to its askonefamily helpline in 2014. The real impact of years of austerity is only now being realised and one-parent families and parents sharing parenting of their children have borne the brunt of spending cuts. Every parent should have an equal opportunity to create a better future for his or her children. All families deserve an equal chance.

Research shows that a key contributor to children’s futures is not the structure of their families but living in consistent poverty.  One in four families in Ireland is a one-parent family and 58% of lone parents are employed. Only 45,000 lone parents are now in receipt of the One-Parent Family Payment. They want to work and they want to learn. The policies of activation being directed towards these families are not working. Children in one-parent families are still more than twice as likely to live in poverty. The number of children in Ireland living in consistent poverty – meaning they are living both at risk of poverty and experiencing deprivation – has risen to nearly 12%; while 23% of children in a one-parent family experience deprivation.

The askonefamily helpline can be contacted on lo-call 1890 66 22 12.

About One Family

One Family was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families and people sharing parenting or 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 66 22 12, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals. One Family also promotes Family Day and presents the Family Day Festival every May, an annual celebration of the diversity of families in Ireland today (www.familyday.ie). For further information, visit www.onefamily.ie.

Available for Interview

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

Further Information/Scheduling

Shirley Chance, Director of Communications | t: 01 664 0124 / e: schance@onefamily.ie

Stuart Duffin, Director of Policy and Programmes, One Family, responds to the recent findings of the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) that there is ‘no evidence that the Back to Education Allowance employment support programme is effective helping unemployed people to find jobs’.

The relationship between education and the economy is longstanding. Employers generally see achievements related to the subject discipline in education as necessary but not sufficient for people to be employed. In some employment contexts the actual subject discipline may be relatively unimportant.  Achievements outside the boundaries of a discipline (such as the possession of so-called ‘soft skills’) are generally considered to be important for a job. Yet ’employability’ is not a major feature in education programmes in Ireland; or why should it be?

‘Employability’ refers to achievements and potential to obtain a ‘job’, and should not be confused with the actual acquisition of a ‘job’ (which is subject to influences in the environment, a major influence being the state of the economy). Employability derives from complex learning and is a concept of a wider range than those of ‘core’ and ‘key’ skills. The transferability of skills is often too easily assumed. There is some evidence to suggest that references to employability make the implicit assumption that graduates from education are young people. The risk is of not considering employability in respect of older graduates, who have the potential to bring a more extensive life-experience to bear. Employability is not merely an attribute of the new graduate. It needs to be continuously refreshed throughout a person’s working life.

There are many definitions of what it is to be employable and views on the processes that develop this attribute which are based on the premise that, in education, employability is about good learning. One of many definitions of employability is: ‘A set of skills, knowledge and personal attributes that make an individual more likely to secure and be successful in their chosen occupation(s) to the benefit of themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy.’

Therefore, employability goes well beyond the simplistic notion of key skills and is evidenced in the application of a mix of personal qualities and beliefs, understandings, skilful practices and the ability to reflect productively on experience.

Notice that the commonly used terms ‘knowledge’ and ‘skills’ are not used. They have been replaced by ‘understandings’ and ‘skilful practices’ respectively, in order to signal the importance of a rich appreciation of the relevant fields and of the ability to operate in situations of complexity and ambiguity. There is a parallel here with Stephenson’s (1998[1]) suggestion that the capable person can work effectively on unfamiliar problems in unfamiliar contexts as well as on familiar problems in familiar contexts (which is really a matter of routine). Given that this account of employability stresses complexity, it follows that pedagogy for employability (and the associated assessment) (a) needs to take the inherent complexity of the construct into account, and (b) will be promoting similar achievements to those that teachers in education , at all levels, tend to value. Much of the discussion of employability implicitly refers to the full-time student who enters education at around the age of 18 and who graduates at the age of 21 or 22, and deals with matters beyond the boundaries of the subject discipline(s) concerned.

For older students (many of who will opt to study part-time), employability may take on a different route, since they may well have experienced employment and/or voluntary work prior to (or whilst they are) engaging in education. For them, the emphasis that they give to employability may be on the development of subject-specific understanding to complement what they have already learned about employability in general.

There is also a need to acknowledge the employment-relevant learning that ostensibly full-time students derive from part-time employment as they seek to fund their passage through education. Students, therefore, will develop their employability in ways that reflect their particular circumstances. It might be hoped that they would become capable in the sense outlined by Stephenson (1998).

Capable people have confidence in their ability to:

1. Take effective and appropriate action.
2. Explain what they are seeking to achieve.
3. Live and work effectively with others.
4. Continue to learn from their experiences, both as individuals and in association with others, in a diverse and changing society.

Capability is a necessary part of specialist expertise, not separate from it. Capable people not only know about their specialism but they also have the confidence to apply their knowledge and skills within varied and changing situations and to continue to develop their specialist knowledge and skills. Stephenson’s words point beyond employability at the moment of graduation towards employability in the context of lifelong learning (a point that is implicit in all the definitions of employability).

We have a system in Ireland whereby:

1. We see education as solely not about investing in human capital and enabling people into a better place.
2. We lack a coherent and integrated set of supports and aftercare while in education to enable sustainable employment options in the future.
3. We lack, with the Department of Social Protection understanding of human capital investment and employability skills.
4. Lack of skills of DSP staff to support and guide people.

Going forward, the Back to Education Allowance should be an education support not an employability support; and therefore taken out the auspices of Social Protection and given to Education and Skills. After all, they are the experts. Though attention is focused on the transition between education and employment, it is important to remember that – as stickers in the rear windows of cars provide reminders in respect of pets – employability, for most people, is for life.

One Family Director of Policy & Programmes, Stuart Duffin, writes about what should be at the centre of social welfare change.

As an election looms for Spring 2016 we need to begin to raising public awareness on the issue of poverty and its effects on health. Our social welfare system is undergoing fundamental change. Reforms affecting many working lone parents are plunging many into even deeper poverty and reinforcing inequality. Restructuring is creating a system which is leaving more parents without constructive supports, whilst those who may qualify must engage with a system which lacks compassion and fails to treat them with dignity and respect.

The Government’s approach to simplifying welfare is undermined by increasing conditionality, and the erosion of a rights based approach to entitlement. The characterisation of one-parent families as undeserving – ‘skivers’ enjoying an overly generous system or worse, actively defrauding the system at the expense of hard working taxpayers – ignores the evidence about the reality of parents’ lives. This rhetoric is used to justify the approach. Many one-parent families who are on the JobSeekers Allowance for example, are required to engage in stressful work seeking activities despite inadequate childcare provision. Parents are blamed for not being in paid work while the real barriers to employment such as the lack of jobs, lack of affordable and suitable childcare, non-family friendly practices and employer discrimination, and our low wage economy are not tackled effectively. At the same time, an immense amount of unpaid work in caring for children (most often done by women) or socially worthwhile volunteering goes unrecognised and unrewarded.

The need for a new architecture for social welfare and protection has never been more pressing.

Therefore, One Family is developing and promoting a Manifesto for Change, which includes:

1. Parents need income security at a level where no one is left in poverty and all have sufficient income to lead a dignified life.
2. Make respect for human rights and dignity the cornerstone of a new approach to welfare.
3. Radically simplify the social protection system.
4. Invest in the support needed to enable families to participate fully in society.

Our future is better when we feel secure and supported; not when we are vilified and our needs are ignored.

One Family’s Manifesto for Change will be available on this site prior to General Election 2016.

We have summarised some of the main changes from Budget 2016 (presented on 13 October 2015) which may affect one-parent families. If you or anyone you know would like information regarding your individual circumstances, askonefamily is available on 1890 66 22 12 / 01 662 9212 or by email here.

Budget 2016 | Social Welfare Changes

• No change to the main social welfare payment rates, which include One-Parent Family Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance Transition and Jobseeker’s Allowance, so it remains at €188 a week for the adult and €29.80 per week, per child.

• The earnings disregard of €90 a week, which applies to One-Parent Family Payment, will now also apply to Jobseeker’s Allowance Transition. Earnings over €90 will be assessed at 50% rather than the previous 60%. This will apply from January 2016.

• Fuel Allowance will increase from 1^st January 2016 to €22.50 a week, up from €20.

• Family Income Supplement net income thresholds will increase between €5 and €10 a week, also from January 2016:

• Child Benefit will increase by €5 a month, from January 2016

• The Christmas bonus will be paid in December 2015 to long-term social welfare recipients at a rate of 75% of their payment; this includes those on One-Parent Family Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance transition, Carer’s Allowance, Disability Allowance, Widow/Widower’s/Surviving Civil Partner’s Pensions.

• It will also be paid to those on Back to Work Allowance, Community Employment, Rural Social Scheme, Tús, Gateway and Jobs Initiative.

• There will be 2 week Paternity Benefit, in respect of births from September 2016.

• Those on Carer’s Allowance who have been in receipt of the Respite Care Grant will receive an increase in the payment, to €1,700 and it will be called the Carer’s Support Grant.

Press Release

Budget 2016 a Let Down for Poor One-Parent Families

Child Benefit Disappointing, Income Disregard Welcome

www.onefamily.ie

(Dublin, Tuesday 13 October 2015) One Family, Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and separating, today responds to Budget 2016 acknowledging that Government listened to us and the parents we support by providing a modest increase in a parent’s ability to stay in low paid employment by increasing the income disregard of those on JobSeekers Transition Allowance (JSTA). However a Child Benefit giveaway to everyone is unstrategic and does not address the children pushed into poverty by this Government. This approach does not fit with the Government’s self proclaimed family-friendly Budget for 2016.

Karen Kiernan, One Family CEO explains: “This Government has heaped cuts on those one-parent families who rely on social welfare in the past four Budgets. Child poverty rates have rocketed, particularly in one-parent families and some social welfare reforms have run contrary to Government policy. Therefore equalising the amount someone can earn whilst on the JSTA is just common sense in supporting people to move off welfare and into sustainable employment. However welcome this tweak is, much more needs to be done to provide a package of supports to help parents work and we haven’t yet seen any sign of that.

“It is not good enough that some families are supported more than others, if Government really wants to be family-friendly to all families then more needs to be done to be aware of the reality of the diversity of families in Ireland what they need.”

Stuart Duffin, One Family Director of Policy & Programmes, states: “Government has not listened to the calls of many organisations in the voluntary sector to target resources at the poorest children in Ireland rather than giving a pre-election €5 to everyone on Child Benefit. What low-income working families need is the Family Income Supplement adjusted so that it makes work pay by reducing the qualifying hours to 15 hours per week and tapering the payment; as well as recognising the value and costs of shared parenting by providing the Single Person Child Carer Tax Credit to each parent.  It seems also to have ignored recommendations put forward by the OECD and ESRI in their recent reports showing that parents continue to have higher jobless rates than others. We know that Government has seen the evidence. It is, shockingly, yet to be seen to effectively act on it continuing not to invest the required levels in childcare and afterschool care.”

Government should be doing everything it can to help poor children, but Budget 2016 lets families down again. One Family calls on Government to respond to the lived realities of one-parent families and get it right.

Available for Interview

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

Stuart Duffin, Director of Policy & Programmes | t: 01 662 9212 or 087 062 2023

Press Release

Budget 2016 could finally get it right for the poorest of Ireland’s children.

But will Government deliver for families on Tuesday?

(Dublin, Friday 9 October 2015) One Family, Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and separating, outlines in its pre-Budget 2016 submission ways that Government could finally get it right for people parenting alone and their children. But with levels of child poverty in Ireland increasing dramatically, and one-parent families statistically those at higher risk of deprivation and homelessness, will Government take this opportunity to make good on its promises by reducing the barriers to accessing education and employment; or will it target one-parent families again?

Yesterday Taoiseach Enda Kenny told the Dublin Chamber of Commerce that he “will prioritise measures that boost jobs and break that cycle of joblessness and poverty” in the upcoming Budget and beyond. One Family asks if he will deliver on this promise, and reiterates its recommendations for Budget 2016 which would provide a social and economic future for one-parent families based on investment and opportunity.

Karen Kiernan, One Family CEO, states: “We are stating clearly again that Government must invest in Budget 2016 in a coherent package of supports and services for parents moved off the One-Parent Family Payment and to Job Seeker’s Allowances if it is serious about supporting lone parents into sustainable employment and out of social welfare; particularly after a series of cuts targeting one-parent families since Budget 2011. Without this, the Department of Social Protection’s current reform process will continue to fail and families will continue to suffer.”

Stuart Duffin, One Family Director of Policy & Programmes, comments: “We have been highlighting the need for quality, affordable childcare and out of school care; access to quality and assured housing; and family-friendly employment opportunities, which require significant government investment and cross-departmental collaborations. One Family’s recommendations for Budget 2016 are simple, low cost and cost effective and designed to make a real difference in increasing positive outcomes for many thousands of children.”

A package of supports for OFP recipients being transitioned must include:

• The Income Disregard to remain at €90 for all OPFs regardless of their payment.
• Equal access to all activation measures and in particular MOMENTUM.
• Access to free fees for part-time education options.
• Allow JSTA CE participants to have an additional payment of €50/week equalising it with JobBridge in recognition of family costs.
• Provide specialist bridging programmes for lone parents such as New Futures and New Steps.
• Raise the Qualified Child Increase to help reduce child poverty by tailoring it to the poorest families.
• Recognise the value and costs of shared parenting by providing the Single Person Child Carer Tax Credit to each parent.
• Adjust the Family Income Supplement so that it makes work pay for lone parents by reducing the qualifying hours to 15 hours per week and taper payment.
• Provide a high quality accessible Childcare and Out Of School Care system.

/Ends.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

In addition to the introduction of reform of the One-Parent Family Payment which is resulting in increased poverty for many working lone parents, previous cuts that have targeted One-Parent Family Payment recipients and one-parent families since Budget 2011 include:

• Budget 2014

1. The One Parent Family Tax Credit was discontinued and replaced with the Single Person Child Carer Credit, which only one parent can claim, whereas the previous credit could be claimed by both parents sharing parenting.
2. Maternity Benefit was standardised at €230, an increase for some but a decrease of €32 for others.
3. The FÁS training allowance was discontinued for those in receipt of some social welfare payments, including those receiving One Parent Family Payment.

• Budget 2013

1. Child Benefit was reduced from €140 per child to €130 (for 1st, 2nd and 3rd child) in Budget 2013.
2. Back to School Clothing & Footwear Allowance (BTSCFA): Reduced from €250 to €200 for children aged 12+, and from €150 down to €100 for 4-11 year olds.
3. Cost of Education Allowance (paid with Back to Education Allowance, BTEA) cut completely from €300 down to €0 for all new and existing BTEA recipients.

• Budget 2012

1. BTSCFA, from €305 reduced to €250 for 12+, and from €200 down to €150 for 4-11 yr olds; age eligibility also increased from 2 to 4 year olds in 2012.
2. Ongoing cuts to OFP include Income Disregard cut from €146.50 down to €90.
3. The half rate transition payment of OFP was cut for those who were going into work and stopping payment.
4. OFP recipients lost access to half rate payment for Illness Benefit and Jobseeker’s Benefit, where applicable.
5. Fuel Allowance was reduced from 32 weeks to 26 weeks.
6. Cost of Education Allowance (for BTEA recipients) reduced from €500 to €300.
7. CE Scheme participants, many of whom were lone parents, had their training and materials grant cut from €1,500 to €500; and new CE participants from 2012 could not get ‘double’ payment, just €20 extra allowance.

• Budget 2011

1. Cuts included the main rate of social welfare payments reduced from €196 down to €188.
2. Child Benefit was reduced by €10 for 1st and 2nd child / €150 to €140; 3rd child / €187 to €167; 4th and subsequent child / reduced to €177.
3. Christmas Bonus was discontinued (half-rate partial reinstatement for some last year).

About One Family

One Family was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families and people sharing parenting or 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 66 22 12, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals. One Family also promotes Family Day and presents the Family Day Festival every May, an annual celebration of the diversity of families in Ireland today (www.familyday.ie). For further information, visit www.onefamily.ie.

Available for Interview

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

Stuart Duffin, Director of Policy & Programmes | t: 01 662 9212 or 087 062 2023

(Dublin, Thursday 17^th September 2015) One Family, Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and separating, responds to the ESRI’s latest report ‘Transitions into and out of Household Joblessness’.

Karen Kiernan, One Family CEO: “Yet again, evidence informed research clearly states that access to affordable, quality childcare enables women and in particular lone parents, to take up sustainable job opportunities. Without this families and children are at risk of consistent and persistent poverty a reduction in quality of life and the opportunities open to them.”

Stuart Duffin, Director of Policy and Programmes continues, ‘The complexity of jobless households is reflected in how families are made up in contemporary Ireland. 16% of children live in jobless households. The risk of being in a jobless household is related to the employability of those in the household. They are also more likely to be renting their accommodation, to be single or parenting alone, and to either have a disability or to live with someone with a disability.”

Stuart explains, “It’s a simple solution: jobs are required to address the issue, but jobs are not equally distributed throughout the State or are not adequately paid or supported by the tax and benefit system. Also, jobs which parents can do, while meeting their caring responsibilities are not evenly spread, nor do the job requirements necessarily match the skills and capacity of parents seeking the jobs.

Therefore, if government are serious about talking these issues responses will require tailoring, with a role for local organisations and communities helping to deliver bridging programmes and supports. One-parent households are at risk of poverty— one-parent family households experience high levels of deprivation and economic stress. There are barriers and traps for one-parent families (real and perceived). Government have made attempts to address the problem with the reconfiguration of the One Parent Family Payment (OPFP); but they have largely ignored accessible; affordable and quality childcare. Joblessness one-parent families will not be resolved through single interventions and solutions, but through packages that reflect the complexity of the situation of parents and their needs. Any Government responses must include developing their own capacity to provide tailored services that respond to parent’s real needs and circumstances: housing; childcare; life long learning, public employment, community employment.”

Karen concludes, ‘There is a need to understand household decision-making—in making decisions about employment, parents take into account the overall finances of the household as well as the needs of others in the household, especially children.”                  / Ends

Available for Interview

• Stuart Duffin, Director of Policy & Programmes | t: 01 662 9212 or 087 062 2023
• Karen Kiernan, CEO | t: 01 662 9212 or 086 850 9191

One Family’s Budget 2016 Submission

One Family’s recommendations for Budget 2016 are simple, low cost and cost effective; and provide a social and economic future which is based on investment and opportunity.

A package of supports for OFP recipients being transitioned must include:

• The Income Disregard to remain at €90 for all OPFs regardless of their payment.
• Equal access to all activation measures and in particular MOMENTUM.
• Access to free fees for part-time education options.
• Allow JSTA CE participants to have an additional payment of €50/week equalising it with JobBridge in recognition of family costs.
• Provide specialist bridging programmes for lone parents such as New Futures and New Steps.
• Raise the Qualified Child Increase to help reduce child poverty by tailoring it to the poorest families.
• Recognise the value and costs of shared parenting by providing the Single Person Child Carer Tax Credit to each parent.
• Adjust the Family Income Supplement so that it makes work pay for lone parents by reducing the qualifying hours to 15 hours per week and taper payment.
• Provide a high quality accessible Childcare and Out Of School Care system.

About One Family

One Family was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families and people sharing parenting or 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 66 22 12, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals. One Family also promotes Family Day and presents the Family Day Festival every May, an annual celebration of the diversity of families in Ireland today (www.familyday.ie). For further information, visit www.onefamily.ie.

ESRI-Transitions into and out of Household Joblessness, 2004 to 2014 Dorothy Watson, Bertrand Maître and Helen Russell

Main findings

• In 2014, 14 per cent of adults and 16 per cent of children lived in jobless households, down from peaks of 16per cent and 20 per cent, respectively, in 2011/2012
• During the recession, joblessness became more common among multi-adult households with children
• Persistent joblessness was higher for children than adults and was more common for women, older adults, those with lower levels of education, adults with a disability and in one-adult households with children.
• With the onset of the recession, the entry rate to joblessness increased faster than the exit rate.
• Focusing on those in jobless households, the rate of Joblessness exits between one calendar quarter and the next was just over 10 per cent during the boom, 7.5 per cent in 2008 and 2009 and 8 to 10 per cent from mid-2013.
• A quarter of adult employment entries resulted in a household moving from joblessness to employment over the period. Similarly, 28 per cent of adult employment exits resulted in household joblessness.
• The chance of someone in a jobless household entering employment was little more than half that of someone in a working household.
• The presence of children is linked with a lower chance of entering employment and a higher chance of exiting employment, mainly due to the pattern for women.
• Married men, younger adults, those with higher levels of education, living in Dublin and who had worked in the last year were more likely to enter employment.
• To ensure household joblessness continues to fall in line with unemployment, labour market policy should be broadened to include people on home duties and with a disability.
• Other policies, such as childcare and welfare incentives, are important in reducing household joblessness where children are present.

Press Release

Government Policies Are Failing Poor Families

askonefamily helpline calls up by another 30%

One Family Annual Review 2014

www.onefamily.ie

(Dublin, Monday 17 August 2015) One Family, Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and separating, launches its Annual Review 2014 as its askonefamily helpline continues to respond to an unprecedented rise in numbers of distressed callers. In 2014, helpline calls rose by 30%. This followed a 20% rise in 2013; and in 2015, to date, a staggering 50% increase.  This worrying trend reflects the reality for one-parent families in Ireland today as Government choices are creating more poverty for children and parents in thousands of one-parent families. These are families who have already borne the brunt of cuts since Budget 2012. These are families who simply have no resources left, yet Government continues its onslaught of activation without adequate supports as 57,000 lone parents have now been transitioned.

Karen Kiernan, One Family CEO explains: “The transition of parents in receipt of the One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) to different payments when their youngest child reached the age of seven continued through 2014 and into this year. The uncertainty and confusion around implementation of this reform process, and fear over its impacts, have contributed hugely to the increase in calls to our helpline. Our evidence shows that vulnerable one-parent families are being hit very hard. Those who are already working part-time are telling us of the catastrophic affects on their families as they experience huge cuts in income. The priority must be to work effectively to end child poverty and improve outcomes for one-parent families. Government still has the opportunity to implement policies that can achieve this.”

Stuart Duffin, One Family Director of Policy & Programmes, comments: “We have put forward our ‘10 Solutions’ campaign – actions that Government could take to make a real difference. We have continuously highlighted that the reform of the OFP is working against stated Government policy, as barriers to employment such as accessible affordable childcare remain insurmountable while the reform is forcing many out of work. For these families, homelessness is a greater threat than ever before. At any one time up to two thirds of families in emergency accommodation are one-parent families. This is shameful. It did not have to be like this. It is still not too late for Government to reverse the damage done and work positively to end child poverty.”

Research shows that a key contributor to children’s futures is not the structure of their families but living in consistent poverty.  One in four families in Ireland is a one-parent family and 58% of lone parents are employed. Only 45,000 lone parents are now in receipt of the One-Parent Family Payment. They want to work and they want to learn. The policies of activation being directed towards these families are not working. Children in one-parent families are still more than twice as likely to live in poverty. The number of children in Ireland living in consistent poverty – meaning they are living both at risk of poverty and experiencing deprivation – has risen to nearly 12%; while 23% of children in a one-parent family experience deprivation.

Karen continues: “We are stating loudly and clearly that Government must invest in Budget 2016 in a coherent package of supports and services for parents moved off the One-Parent Family Payment and onto Job Seeker’s Allowances, if it is sincere about wanting to support people who parent on their own into sustainable employment and out of social welfare. Government must also stop using atypical examples to demonstrate the so-called ‘success’ of these policies and listen to what real one-parent families, who have lost up to €110 per week from already tight budgets, are saying about this process. Budget 2016 is an opportunity for false realities to be finally discarded and the lived realities of one-parent families in Ireland to be heard.”

One Family’s Annual Review 2014 can be read/downloaded here.

Budget 2016 Submission

One Family’s recommendations for Budget 2016 are simple, low cost and cost effective; and provide a social and economic future which is based on investment and opportunity.

A package of supports for OFP recipients being transitioned must include:

• The Income Disregard to remain at €90 for all OPFs regardless of their payment.
• Equal access to all activation measures and in particular MOMENTUM.
• Access to free fees for part-time education options.
• Allow JSTA CE participants to have an additional payment of €50/week equalising it with JobBridge in recognition of family costs.
• Provide specialist bridging programmes for lone parents such as New Futures and New Steps.
• Raise the Qualified Child Increase to help reduce child poverty by tailoring it to the poorest families.
• Recognise the value and costs of shared parenting by providing the Single Person Child Carer Tax Credit to each parent.
• Adjust the Family Income Supplement so that it makes work pay for lone parents by reducing the qualifying hours to 15 hours per week and taper payment.
• Provide a high quality accessible Childcare and Out Of School Care system.

/Ends.

About One Family

One Family was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families and people sharing parenting or 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 66 22 12, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals. One Family also promotes Family Day and presents the Family Day Festival every May, an annual celebration of the diversity of families in Ireland today (www.familyday.ie). For further information, visit www.onefamily.ie.

Available for Interview

• Karen Kiernan, CEO | t: 01 662 9212 or 086 850 9191
• Stuart Duffin, Director of Policy & Programmes | t: 01 662 9212 or 087 062 2023
• People who are parenting alone and who have been affected by this reform process.

It can be daunting when your baby is born and you start to think about how to tell them that their other parent does not want to be part of their life at that time, or maybe never. However, it is best to introduce this concept from day one. This way you do not allow any confusion to creep into your child’s life.

Here are some tips on how you can do this:

1. At the registration of your child’s birth, you can add the father’s name to the birth certificate. In time your child will see this and you can talk with them about their father. Children always want to identify with family, who they look like and where they came from.
2. Have a picture of your child’s other parent in their room or in their baby book, if possible. You may find this very hard to do, but at least if the image exists you can explain who that person is as the child grows up.
3. If possible, inform the father of the child’s birth and invite him to send something to the baby. Something you can keep to show the baby that they acknowledged the birth.
4. Try to inform or involve the absent parent’s extended family from the birth of your baby. This can be very hard to do when relationships have broken down, but along the road at least you can tell your child you made every effort to ensure they knew where they came from.
5. Have a short story in your baby book about how you met their father and how you felt when you found out you were pregnant. Talk a little in the story about how you understood the father felt too. Try to stay positive. Children never usually want to hear anything negative about a parent, even if they are completely absent from their life.
6. As well as a photo in the baby book of their other parent, you could write some things in about your baby’s absent parent such as their full name, birthday, what s/he liked to eat, their hobbies etc. Give an example of something you liked about them. Whatever you feel you would like to share do, without going too deep into what happened between you as a couple.
7. As your child grows in this age range, try to drop comments into conversation about how they may remind you of their other parent – positive things only. Try to open up conversation with them about their father. If things come up in a story book or in conversation with other parents about dads, use this as an opportunity to remind them that they also have a father (or mother, depending on your family’s situation).
8. If you enter a new relationship be very clear when meeting new people that your child is your son or daughter and this other person is your partner, e.g. saying ‘Kaela is my daughter and Simon is my partner’ instead of leading them to believe it is ‘our daughter’. So many people fall into this by error.
9. Remember, children don’t have to hear something to think it is real. Often by not hearing anything to contradict an idea they have formed can lead them to believe it to be true.
10. Do not at any stage support or encourage your child to call anyone who is not their biological father ‘daddy’. This can lead to great hurt and confusion as they get older. Children always discover the truth, one way or another.

This ’10 Ways to’ article is by One Family’s Director of Children & Parenting Services, Geraldine Kelly, as part of our weekly ’10 Ways to’ series of parenting tips. You can read the full series here.

Next you might like to read: 10 Ways to Positively Maintain Contact

Find out more about our parenting skills programmes and parent supports. For support and information on these or any related topics, call askonefamily on lo-call 1890 66 22 12 or email support@onefamily.ie.