Minister Doherty must resist attempts to give blanket social welfare increases and instead use research to focus increases on the most vulnerable groups

[Dublin 20 July] One Family, Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and separating has today said Budget 2019 must focus on evidence based targeted supports rather than blanket increases to social welfare. The charity’s comments came at the launch of its Pre-Budget Submission ahead of the Pre-Budget Forum in Dublin Castle.

Karen Kiernan One Family CEO said, “Budget 2019 must focus on targeted ‘evidence based’ increases to social welfare and we call on Minister Doherty to resist attempts to give blanket increases to all social welfare recipients. The Minister should use the realms of research that clearly show children living in one-parent families are consistently more likely to be poor than children in two parent families to target supports to one-parent families.”

Consistent research has shown that children in one-parent families are most at risk of poverty, Government must now act to support these vulnerable families. One Family’s Pre-Budget Submission includes recommendations that would enable Government to provide targeted supports to children living in poverty.

They include:

• Full restoration of the Income Disregard for One-parent Family Payment and Jobseekers Transition. Increase earnings disregard to €161.40. In 2011, before the 2012 cuts were introduced, the earnings disregard equated to 16.9 hours of National Minimum Wage employment. A disregard of €161.40 would restore these hours and payment levels.
• Standardise the child maintenance process and provide support for those parenting alone who are pursuing child maintenance. Do not leave this process solely to the parent with care responsibilities.
• Raise the base rate of the Qualified Child Increase (QCI) from €31.80 to €35.00 per week for one-parent families most at risk of poverty and raise the QCI for children over the age of 12 to €37.80 per week, in recognition of the higher costs faced by families with older children.

One Family’s Pre-Budget Submission can be viewed here.

About One Family
One Family is Ireland’s 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 662212, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals. One Family also promotes Family Day every May, an annual celebration of the diversity of families in Ireland today.

Further Information

Karen Kiernan, One Family, CEO  | t: 01 662 9212 / 086 850 9191.

Noel Sweeney, Communications & Events Manager | t: 01 662 9212

Survey finds 75% of parents have discussed abortion with their children because of campaign.

A survey by One Family, Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting, and separating, has found that over 88% of parents think the referendum posters are unhelpful with 75% confirming the campaign has led to discussions with their children about abortion.

One Family, which provides crisis pregnancy and post abortion counselling services launched the survey last week following an escalation in the number of people seeking its counselling and parenting services, particularly its tips on how to speak to your child about abortion. The majority of those seeking support said they had done so after they, or their children, had seen graphic campaign posters.

Speaking about the results, One Family CEO Karen Kiernan said, “There has been a marked increase in women and couples seeking our counselling and parenting services. What we are finding is that parents are being triggered by the images into a conversation with their children that they are just not ready for. Many parents are particularly annoyed by posters that parents believe are targeting parents and children such as those being placed near schools. Although we don’t know how the parents might vote, overwhelmingly they are unhappy with the graphic posters.”

When asked ‘Have your children noticed the posters associated with the referendum campaign?’ 84% of parents said yes, their children had noticed the campaign while 88% answered No to the question ‘Have the posters associated with the referendum campaign been helpful to you as a parent?’

The survey found that 75% of parents had a discussion with their child about abortion because of the referendum but many did not do so proactively or willingly. Verbatim comments demonstrate some of the anger parents are feeling:

“This not a topic that I thought my 9 yr old was really ready to hear about or actually understand, but the more graphic posters from the no campaign made the topic impossible to avoid. Initially he was v shocked by the “killing babies” posters and was quite upset about it.”

The survey was conducted online by One Family through its social media and e-zine followers as well as via other organisations working with families and had over 300 respondents.  42% of parents who responded had children in the 6-10 age group, followed by 26% in the 3-5 age group and 20% in the 11+ age group.

 Selection of verbatim quotes from parents:

Q: Have your children noticed the posters associated with the referendum campaign?

“You can’t miss them 100 feet from their school gates.”

“Is it yes for abortion? What is abortion? Do you want abortion?”

“They are a constant source of discussion. They have come up in my child’s class 4th and when he was in 2nd classroom also discussed there. Think teachers are under pressure to provide age appropriate info. think it would associate abortion with killing and murder of babies because of the no posters and don’t know what effect this will have on these kids later.”

“ My 10 year old now informs me randomly that “1 in 5 ‘babies’ in the UK are aborted”

“Thankfully they are too young”

“My eldest son 9 has & can read. My 6 year old hasn’t noticed or hasn’t commented to me.”

Q: Have you discussed the issue of abortion and the referendum with your children as a result of the referendum campaign?

“I didn’t necessarily want to but had to. In the car. Images didn’t help at all. Would have likely discussed it but on my terms and in my words.”

“The campaigners left us with no choice but to discuss an issue which is not appropriate for our children”

“It’s been very difficult. I feel the posters are designed to be manipulative and to force parents into uncomfortable conversations with their children. Will the no side try to win at any price ? Even the innocence of children??”

“As far as it is Human Rights issue, content No poster not negative towards children”

“6 years old too young to discuss it with.”

“This not a topic that I thought my 9 yr old was really ready to hear about or actually understand, but the more graphic posters from the no campaign made the topic impossible to avoid. Initially he was v shocked by the “killing babies” posters and was quite upset about it.”

“He’s five so I’ve just explained about voting and we’ve practised voting with him and his younger sister on simple issues like what will we have for dinner. He hasnt read the word abortion he hasn’t asked so I haven’t discussed”.

Q: Have the posters associated with the referendum campaign been helpful to you as a parent?

“It’s nightmare explaining to 8 year old about abortion”

“I would have liked to have been in control of when we had the conversation.”

“Very difficult for them to get a balanced view when posters are so based on images of babies. I don’t think it is fair coverage. Referendum posters should be text only in my opinion.”

“Would answer somewhat helpful. Neither side is fully engaged or respectful with the impact this has on potential parents, pregnant women, but i would say particularly the No side has been disrespectful of women.”

“The images of foetuses on the posters with messages about killing etc. are extremely unhelpful because they have required explaining to my son (age 8) and that the No posters are lying about babies being aborted at 6 months, that they are just trying to manipulate people.”

“The posters are forcing parents to have to discuss a matter that’s just not appropriate for discussion with young children. I don’t want to tell my child why girls and women need access to a abortion ie when they have been raped, suicidal or when their life is at risk.”

“I’m lucky he hasn’t asked anything about the issue. But it’s been helpful to introduce the concept of voting and having a say in what the government does.”

Notes to Editor:

Survey ran online from Saturday 28 April to 9am Friday 4 May and 325 parents responded.

One Family, formerly Cherish, has been providing services and supports for people parenting alone, sharing parenting, and separating since 1972. One Family provides post-termination and crisis pregnancy counselling and supports to its clients in their roles as parents and into training, education and employment. One Family also provides support for children in one-parent families.

For more information on who we are and what we do please visit: www.onefamily.ie

One Family’s counselling services are funded by the HSE Sexual Heath and Crisis Pregnancy Programme (SHCPP). Details of HSE funded services are available on www.positiveoptions.ie and  www.abortionaftercare.ie

One Family’s parenting tips are available here:

www.onefamily.ie/how-to-talk-with-your-child-about-abortion-a-guide-from-one-family/

For more information please contact:

• CEO, Karen Kiernan on tel: 086 850 9191
• Communications and Events Manager, Noel Sweeney on tel: 085 7241294

One Family is aware that many parents are struggling to answer questions from their children about the abortion referendum and the associated posters, leaflets and online content. We would like to offer some support to parents so they can talk with their children with confidence. Parents are also welcome to contact our askonefamily helpline on 1890662212 or 016629212

Here are some thoughts and tips for different aged children that you may find useful in the coming weeks. As a parent remember, you know your child best and know what they are capable of understanding.

Children aged 3-5 years

As the campaign heats up there will be visual images on posters, leaflets and the media that children as young as 3-5 years old may notice and ask why. Of course at this age, children are far too young to understand the complexity of abortion. But they may be upset or confused by some of the images that are used in the campaign.

For parents the key things to remember are:

• Think about the age of your child when you are giving them information. Decide what is appropriate for them and what they can understand. It is important to help them learn, not to scare them or leave them feeling worried about issues. Think about the language your kids use and the stories your kids are familiar with try and put it into a language that they will understand.
• If your young child asks why there is a picture of a baby on a poster, explain to them that there is a big thing called a vote on right now. This is a time when people in our country have to decide about something, just like your child has to decide. Tell them that people think many different things, just like your child may. You can explain to them that some people are using images to show what to decide and they would like others to hear their voice about this, just like your child wants to be heard when they have something to say.
• If your child asks what the vote is about you can tell them that this is when a woman decides she is not ready to be a mum. She can go to the hospital and get support with this and this vote is about how to help the women.
• Reassure your child that it is okay for people to  make decisions  and make their voice heard. However, also reassure them that these are only pictures and that they do not need to worry about the babies.
• Try to then bring them back to more positive, easier to manage situations appropriate to their age. However, remember they will ask again tomorrow. They may ask more about what a vote is or some other word you used when talking with them.
• Be patient and continue to use your good parenting skills – listen and take time to answer their questions in an age appropriate way. Explain to them and reassure them. Do it all again tomorrow and the next day until they are clear and are fully reassured.

Children aged 6-10 years

Children in this age group can take a great interest in what is going on around them, in their school, their local community and in their home. You will find they may be listening in on adult conversations more frequently, or listening to what is on the news as they are becoming very curious about the bigger world around them.

The campaigns on the upcoming referendum for the repeal of the 8^th amendment will generate great curiosity for them. As a parent some key issues for you to consider in order to support your child in the coming weeks include:

• Firstly, you need to be clear on where you stand on the issue of the referendum to repeal the 8^th amendment. Understanding why you have your opinion and being able to explain this to your child in an age appropriate way is key to helping them.
• At this age, factual information is still often what they require.
• Explain to your child clearly what abortion is. Simple accurate wording is that ‘abortion is when a woman chooses to no longer be pregnant and her pregnancy is ended with a procedure called an abortion’. Another word for abortion is termination.
• In Ireland we do not have the ability to have abortions and we are now being asked to vote to decide if we should allow women in Ireland to be able to make the decision to have an abortion or not.
• Right now if a woman decides she does not want to be pregnant, she can go to England or another country and have the operation there. She can also take tablets in Ireland but she cannot have any help from doctors here doing this. This does not work for many women and has caused them problems.
• Tell your child there are many reasons that women decide to have an abortion. You can tell them if you feel strongly either way. However try to stick to facts. At this age, they may not necessarily want to know, or have the capacity to understand what you believe. They want facts and knowledge. Children want to know why there are posters and why people are talking about the issue.
• When they reach the next stage of development then it may be the right time to talk with them about what you believe about abortion and related issues.

Children aged 11 years and older

Children of this age range will hopefully have a good understanding of reproduction, sexuality and they may also be starting to experience relationships. Parents and schools will have hopefully have spoken in great detail with these young people about how their bodies work, how babies are formed and the importance of sex and relationships. Some young girls may already have started their period and may be very conscious of how a girl or woman can become pregnant. Many young people in this age range will be starting puberty so sexual development will be a key issue for them. Some areas to consider when supporting adolescents include:

• These children and young people will need a lot of support from parents and adults around them to help them understand what the referendum to repeal the 8^th amendment is all about. Making time to sit and talk with them is really important as they may not always proactively come to you and ask you their questions. However it is always best they get good information from their parents rather than mixed messages through social media, friends and the larger community.
• For many parents it may seem easy to close down the conversation and offer moral reasoning to young people, however they may still not understand what the voting is all about. So it is important to try, no matter what you feel about the topic to explore it gently with them.
• Explain what the legal situation is in Ireland. Women do not have the ability to end a pregnancy here unless they decide to travel abroad or access pills online without medical care.
• Ensure they know what an abortion is. An abortion is when a woman has a medical procedure or takes special medication that will result in her no longer being pregnant.
• Think about what you would want for your child, young person if they experienced an unplanned or crisis pregnancy in the future. Would you want them to have a choice?  Have you raised them to know they should always have options and that you will support them in the choices they make, although some will have very difficult and serious consequences?
• Talk with young people about the importance of relationships, of contraception and consent within relationships. Help them to understand all the key issues they need to explore and understand so crisis pregnancy will hopefully never be an issue that they are presented with. However help them to understand clearly the issue of access to abortion that is presenting today in Ireland.
• Your young people are not old enough to vote, so you do not need to convince them of what they should think. It is about giving them good clear information and allowing them form their own opinions, just as you most likely do with so many other issues that have come up over the years.  Respecting their opinion will encourage them to respect your opinion.

Last month, after over forty years in Cherish House on Lower Pembroke Street, One Family moved to new premises in Smithfield, Dublin 7 to more fully meet the need of parents and children as demand for our supports and services continues to grow. While looking forward to the move and to welcoming clients to the new building, everyone who has lived, worked or visited Cherish House over the decades has been moved by the story of the building, by its history and by the memories it holds.

Just before moving, our founding member Maura O’Dea Higgins and some of One Family’s staff team spoke with producer Judy-Meg Ní Chinnéide about Cherish House. Maura recalls trying to find other women who were lone parents in 1970s Ireland, how the organisation came into being in Cherish House, and the early days of meetings by firelight when there was no electricity. Staff shared what the building and its people have meant to us and to the families who lived here when they had nowhere else to go, and how will we carry those memories with us into the future.

Listen to the podcast on the link below (7.5 minutes duration). We hope you enjoy it.

Music credit: Søren Nissen Jørgensen.

The music on this podcast is shared under a Creative Commons license by its composer Søren Nissen Jørgensen.

One Family has summarised Budget 2017 changes which may be relevant to people parenting alone or sharing parenting, as announced on Tuesday 11^th October 2016.

Social Welfare Payments

Basic Rate of Payment

Including One Parent Family Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance Transition, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Carer’s Allowance and others.
This includes employment programmes such as CE, TÚS and Rural Social Scheme.
Proportionate increases in weekly payments for qualified adults will apply from March 2017 (applies to full rate payment recipients).

€5 weekly increase.

_______________________________________________

One Parent Family Payment & Jobseeker’s Transition

For those in employment, the weekly income disregard will increase from €90 to €110 from January 2017. This means that the first €110 of earnings will be ignored and half of the remainder of earnings will be assessed to give a new rate of One Parent Family Payment or Jobseeker’s Transition. Combined with the €5 basic rate increase, this should result in an increase of €15 per week for recipients of OFP and JST.

Income Disregard increased by €20 per week

_______________________________________________

Child Benefit

The current rate remains at €140 per month.

No change.

_______________________________________________

Secondary Payments

Fuel Allowance

Currently €22.50 weekly.

No change.

_______________________________________________

Education

Back to Education Allowance

Cost of Education Allowance (re)introduced per annum for all parents in receipt of Back to Education Allowance.

€500 Cost of Education Allowance annually.

Back to Education Allowance to increase by €5 per week.

_______________________________________________

School Meals

Funding for School Meals being increased so that 50,000 extra children can benefit, further details to be received.

Widening of the scheme.

_______________________________________________

Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance

The allowance paid for each eligible child aged 4-11 is €100. The allowance paid for each eligible child aged 12-22 is €200.

No change.

_______________________________________________

Work

Family Income Supplement

Household income thresholds remain at 2016 levels, and no qualifying hours criteria change.

No change.

_______________________________________________

Income Tax, PRSI and Universal Social Charge

Self Employed – Earned Income Tax Credit increased to €950.

Changes for self-employed.

USC – Three lowest bands each reduced by 0.5% and the €18,668 band raised to €18,772 from 1 January.

USC band changes.

_______________________________________________

Back to Work Enterprise Allowance

A proportionate €5 increase to Back to Work Enterprise Allowance and now accessible to Jobseekers moving to self-employment after 9 months, down from 12 months.

Proportionate €5 increase& eligibility expanded.

_______________________________________________

Minimum Wage

Increase to €9.25 from €9.15 per hour.

10c per hour increase.

_______________________________________________

Housing

Housing Assistance Payment

HAP – Additional €105 million (220% increase) for Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) to accommodate an additional 15,000 households and a total of over 21,000social housing applicants in private rented accommodation.
Further details to be received.

Allocation increase.

_______________________________________________

Other

Childcare

New – A new scheme, the Single Affordable Childcare Scheme, will commence in September 2017. It will provide means-tested subsidies, based on parental income, for children aged between six months and 15 years, and universal subsidies for all children aged six months to three years who are cared for by Tusla-registered childminders/care centres.

Households earning up to €47,500 net income will be able to avail of this subsidised childcare. The highest levels of subsidy will be provided to those on lower incomes, approximately €8,000 a year, based on the maximum of 40-hours childcare a week.

Single Affordable Childcare Scheme introduced.

_______________________________________________

ECCE Scheme

ECCE – There will be further roll-out of the Early Childhood Care and Education Scheme (ECCE) to apply to all children from age three until they start school.

ECCE Scheme expanded.

_______________________________________________

Medical Card

Medical card will be available for all children who receive Domiciliary Care Allowance. Prescription charges unchanged for those aged under 69.

Eligibility extended.

_______________________________________________

Christmas Bonus

Christmas bonus will be paid in December 2017 to long-term social welfare recipients (15 months or more)at a rate of 85% of their payment; this includes those on One-Parent Family Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance Transition, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Back to Work Family Dividend, Carer’s Allowance, Disability Allowance, Widow/Widower’s/Surviving Civil Partner’s Pensions. This also includes employment and education programmes such as CE, JobBridge, Back to Work Enterprise Allowance, Back to Education Allowance, VTOS etc.

10% Increase.

_______________________________________________

For further information visit the official Government Budget page here

#Budget2017

One Family has entered the Better Together video competition. With your help, we could win €1,000 towards our work with and for one-parent families, people sharing parenting and families in transition. Our video was filmed at our annual Family Day Festival this year. We founded and promote Family Day, inspired by UN International Day of Families, to raise awareness of family diversity in Ireland today and to celebrate all families. We believe that society is better when all its members feel valued and included.

It’s easy for you to help and takes just two minutes. Simply watch and vote for our video on this link. If we receive enough votes, One Family’s video will be among 70 shortlisted for assessment by a panel of judges.

Please vote every day until 21 November.

If you wish, you can also make a donation towards our work on the same link.

Thank you for your support. We are also grateful to talented videographer Gerard O’Donnell.

During National Parents Week 2014 we’re asking, “What’s the important issue for you around positive parenting for changing families?” Watch this short video where Donagh McGowan, Solicitor and incoming Chair of the Law Society Family Law Committee and member of the Family Law Court Development Committee, talks about his important issue: how to address the failings of the current family law system.

Donagh was a speaker at our Positive Parenting for Changing Families Seminar on Tuesday 21 October in Dublin Castle. Other speakers included: Stella Owens, Centre for Effective Services, Chair of Special Interest Group on Supporting Parents; Helen Deely, Head of HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme; and Niall Egan, Jobseekers and One Parent Family Policy Section, Department of Social Protection. The panel was chaired by Dr Anne-Marie McGauran, NESC, and One Family Board member.

It is National Parents Week, a time to celebrate all the wonderful parents out there who are raising happy, healthy children in all kinds of circumstances and family structures. The routes to lone parenthood are many and varied, and everyone has their own story.

Recently Tina wrote to us after the birth of her little boy. His father has opted not to be a part of his son’s life. This is Tina’s story.

My name is Tina and I’m from Offaly. I’ve recently become a single parent and when I stumbled across this site I shed a few tears of happiness to see that I’m not alone.

My story started back in November 2013 when I started dating someone I’ve known for a while and thought was genuinely decent. After a few months together I started to get the inkling that I could be wrong and so stopped seeing him. When I split with him I came off the pill as I noticed I had started to gain a few pounds and wanted to trim down a bit but after two months with my tummy only getting bigger I decided to do a pregnancy test to rule out that reason. When the test displayed a positive result I was fit to collapse with the shock! I had been taking a contraceptive pill yet a little life was growing inside me.

I confirmed the result the next day with the doctor and felt the next step was to inform the father. I had already realised we weren’t a good match but I thought there was no reason why we couldn’t get along for the child’s sake. Then I met with him.

He spent hours trying to convince me to abort on the grounds that he had gotten back with his ex who he loved very much, that his mother would disown him for not being in a committed relationship with the mother of his child, and that he already has a dog who he considers his child.

When he realised I wasn’t going to do what he wanted and have an abortion, he then decided to hammer home how important it was never to reveal his identity and how this included my not pursuing him for maintenance. The last I heard of him he tried to get me to meet him to sign something that’d release him from paying maintenance.

I was now starting into my third trimester and also in the middle of trying to renovate my very dilapidated home on a very small budget. I was living in a house that had no doors, no kitchen, bare concrete floors, hardly any furniture and constant problems with pests. I had my aging father living with me who needs caring for as well. So I cried my tears and got over the shock and got on with it.

I dedicated the last few months to getting parts of the house ready and ensuring a healthy lifestyle. Two weeks ago I gave birth to a healthy little boy who is currently thriving. He has filled my heart with love and made all the pain and hard graft seem worth it. I have the support of a wonderful family. It is my mission in life to do whatever it takes to make sure that my little boy is loved and never feels an ounce of rejection as a result of what his father did.

When I see the blatant disregard for single parent families in this country it makes me sad and angry at the same time. My son doesn’t deserve to be a statistic or the subject of a study into the harsh implications of single parent life on a child’s wellbeing. When I came across this site, I was delighted to see that there’s someone fighting our corner.

I would like an Ireland where my son won’t have to be ashamed of how many parents he has. He has one sitting here writing this who would do anything in the world to protect him. I’ve done all I could and continue to do so for his happiness.

* The name and location of the author have been changed. Everything else remains her story in her own words, as told to One Family.

Modern Family is a new Today FM four-part documentary series on family diversity in Ireland, funded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and narrated by Ray D’Arcy and produced by Mary Carroll.

The series aims to explore the changing face of modern families. Part 4 is a focus on one-parent families and separated parents sharing parenting. It features interviews with one of our founders, Evelyn Forde, and other One Family friends and colleagues.

The four episodes will be first broadcast over this Easter Weekend as below:

1. Modern Family Ep1: Same-sex parents | Friday 18 April 10.30am (Listen back here)
2. Modern Family Ep2: Families with disabilities | Saturday 19 April 10.30am (Listen back here)
3. Modern Family Ep3: Immigrant families | Sunday 20 April 9.30am (Listen back here)
4. Modern Family Ep4: One-parent families | Monday 21 April 10.30am (Listen back here)

Note that we will update this post with links to listen back to each episode as they become available.

Further details:

Episode 1 – Same-sex parents More than two decades ago, when Bernadette and Ann decided to start a family as a lesbian couple, they were ahead of their time. Together they raised their two sons, Conor and Darragh in a society where they sometimes felt isolated and stigmatised as same-sex parents. Clare and Aishling met when they were in school. When Clare hit her 30s the pair started talking about having children. They decided to use donor sperm for artificial insemination and they now have a son, Darragh. Glenn and Adriano became the first gay couple in the state to have their civil partnership formally recognised back in January 2011. Glenn has a nine year-old daughter and shares her parenting duties with her mother.

Episode 2 – Families with disabilities Until the age of 18 Julie lived in institutions – residential centres for children with disabilities. She was one of the first children from the hospital to attend the local secondary school and was the first person in a wheelchair to be recruited in the Civil Service. She is married to Mick and has three children. She talks about the challenges she faced in 1970s Ireland, a society where disabled people were invisible. Cerebral Palsy sufferer Ken Kelly is engaged to Gillian Murray, who has Spina Bifida. They want to move in together but there is a lot that has to be considered. Kieran Coppinger is from Mervue in Galway and has Down Syndrome and he talks about his desire to find a girlfriend and his burgeoning acting career.

Episode 3 – Immigrant families Dr Moosajee Bhamjee was Ireland’s first black, Muslim TD. Originally from South Africa (born to Indian parents), he came to Dublin in 1965 where he studied medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons. He tells us how Irish society has evolved since he arrived over forty years ago. Born in Italy and raised in Sri Lanka, broadcaster and social justice activist Dil Wickremasinghe feels thoroughly Irish. She moved here fourteen years ago and as a gay woman she felt immediately welcome. Tomasz Kostienko and his family came to Ireland in 2007. Tomasz felt accepted straight away and his three children now call Ireland home but he dreams of returning to Poland.  Others have not felt so welcome. Refugee Lassane Ouedraogo arrived here from Burkina Faso seven years ago. He has found it difficult to be accepted in and has experienced racism from Irish people.

Episode 4 – One-parent families Today in Ireland, over half a million people live in one-parent families. However, a generation ago, being a lone parent was strongly disapproved of. When Evelyn Forde realised she was pregnant in 1973, she was faced with the heartbreaking dilemma of whether or not to put her child up for adoption. Labour TD Ciara Conway became pregnant in her final year of college. Her daughter Aeva-May is now 11 years old and Ciara speaks about the difficulties of juggling a hectic work and family life. Three years ago Ciara met Gary and they married at Christmas. Aeva-May talks about bringing Gary into their family. Bonnie Brady is raising her son Jayden alone. She speaks about how her life changed dramatically when Jayden arrived and how difficult it is to make ends meet and pursue her career while parenting alone. Paul and his partner separated when their son Eoin was six months old. They share parenting duties now, but spent years fighting over access. It took Paul a long time to learn that every decision he made had to be in Eoin’s best interest, not his.

“A one hour documentary that tells the story of brave single mothers who took on the government.”

Cherish All The Children is the remarkable story of One Family’s founders; those brave women who refused to give up their children for adoption 40 years ago. They formed Cherish, changed the law on illegitimacy and fought to get a single parent’s allowance.

Cherish was set up by single parents, for single parents and the documentary features interviews with our core founders Maura O’Dea Richards, Margaret Murphy, Evelyn Forde and Annette Hunter Evans who share their personal experiences and the challenges of being pregnant and single in Ireland four decades ago. It also features first President of Cherish, Mary Robinson, and Nuala Feric and Anna Lee, first staff members; with other contributors including CEO of One Family Karen Kiernan and Director of Policy, Stuart Duffin.

Cherish/One Family has brought about massive social and legal change for both parents and children since its foundation in a time when unmarried mothers were encouraged to give their ‘illegitimate’ babies up for adoption and to ‘mend their ways’; a time when contraception was unavailable and abortion unmentionable.

Cherish All The Children explores how Cherish was responsible for changing the law on illegitimacy and the abolition of that term, and for successfully campaigning for the introduction of a Single Parent’s Allowance.

The documentary was first broadcast on Today FM on Sunday 29 December 2013 at 9am. You can listen to it online here.

Contributors:

• Mary Robinson: first President of Cherish
• Maura O’Dea Richards, Margaret Murphy, Evelyn Forde, Annette Hunter Evans: founder members of Cherish
• Nuala Feric and Anna Lee: first staff members of Cherish
• Minister Frances Fitzgerald
• Fintan O’Toole: Irish Times journalist and social commentator
• Karen Kiernan, CEO One Family (formerly Cherish)
• Stuart Duffin, Director Policy & Programmes One Family (formerly Cherish)

Credits:

• Producer/ Presenter: Hilary Fennell
• Editor: Daragh Dukes
• Funded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland with the Television Licence Fee

“The Constitution that governs our country was published back in 1937 and Irish family and social life has changed radically since then. Unfortunately the Constitution has not changed in tandem with this and is now woefully out-of-step with the reality of life for many children and families in Ireland because it doesn’t recognise them as families,” writes One Family’s CEO Karen Kiernan in today’s TheJournal.ie.

Karen discusses All Families Matter, the campaigning coalition calling for a review of the Family in our Constitution, and outlines the reasons a Constitutional review of the family is needed.  Anyone can make an online submission to the Convention this week. Members of the Convention will decide by online poll within the next week what new areas they will look at in February at their final scheduled meeting. It is still possible to lobby political members, make online submissions or attend the last regional meeting today, Wednesday 27 November,  in Limerick to ask them to review the family.

Read the column in TheJournal.ie here.

Click here to find out more about All Families Matter and how to make an online submission.

On February 13th this year, Dublin City FM broadcast a 30-minute radio documentary about One Family. It features interviews with One Family staff members and parents who have availed of our services, offering an insight into what we do and why we do it.

Produced by Pearlman Media, the documentary was part of Faith, Hope & Charity. This six-part series aimed to explore ‘the tenacity and strength of human kind to cope with what ever life throws at it, the generosity of volunteering and the commonality of hopes and dreams for the future’. The other charities featured in the series are the Peter McVerry Trust, Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, the Samaritans, D15 Charity and Ronald McDonald House.

Click here to listen to the One Family podcast.

To mark our 40th Anniversary, Maura O’Dea Richards, the founder of Cherish, and Karen Kiernan, the current Director of One Family, were on Pat Kenny this morning – they are on at 34 minutes into the show.

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/todaywithpatkenny/

Press the green play button

A full list of experts nominated by civil society groups to serve on the Government’s Constitutional Convention has been published – including One Family Director, Karen Kiernan http://www.iccl.ie/news/2012/08/16/expert-nominations-to-constitutional-convention-revealed.html

Part-time requirement to work being seriously considered by Minister Burton – announcement at the launch of our Annual Review 2011 and graduation today. Following a critique of recent cuts aimed at lone parents and recommendations from One Family, the Minister has undertaken to review how lone parents will be moved onto Job Seeker’s Allowance when their youngest child is 7. This is a positive and necessary move as it is completely unreasonable to expect lone parents to be available for full time work.

One Family Director Karen Kiernan was on RTE TV’s Frontline last night with Joan Burton TD. Karen was speaking up for lone parents and the Jobbridge programme set up by government last week. Karen got to make a few points about the activation of lone parnents, http://www.rte.ie/news/av/2012/0227/thefrontline.html at 44 minutes in.

 Volunteers Needed for Media Research and Project Co-ordination for One Family 40th Anniversary

One Family is Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families. Set up as Cherish in 1972, with Mary Robinson as Chairperson, we mark our 40^th anniversary this year and have a number of campaigns and projects planned. We are looking for skilled volunteers or interns to help with the below projects:

• 40 Stories – written project
  Job: Gather information and write up stories from former clients, of their experience of parenting alone or sharing parenting and of their experience with One Family.

• An Oral History of One Family – audio project
  Job: Set up, record and edit interviews with the founders, early members and supporters of One Family.

• Celebrating One-parent Families – major awareness-raising campaign
  Job: Gather together and write up profiles of 100 high profile people who live in or come from a one-parent family. To help change attitudes towards one-parent families, this campaign shares information on some of the many well known one-parent families that exist in Ireland and elsewhere.

If you are interested in volunteering your time free of charge for a great cause –  and feel you have the required skill-set for any of the above – please email your CV to comms@onefamily.ie.  Many thanks!

Ciara Conway T.D. has kindly given us permission to share the following information. Following our meeting with Ciara and our two page budget analysis, she raised several issues about the budget cuts with Minister Burton. Minister Burton’s letter of response is enclosed here and this is One Family Director Karen Kiernan’s response to Ciara Conway:

Dear Ciara,

Many thanks for corresponding with Minister Burton on our behalf. Whilst the letter provides factual information and some of it is drawn from the letter that will shortly go to parents in relation to the One-Parent Family Payment unfortunately it is still not clear what the Department’s strategy is in this area, what policy and research this was based on and how they will ameliorate the poor education levels of parents, the lack of employment and the absolute dearth of afterschool care.

Regrettably it has become clear to me that these cuts were made without reference to policy or research but were simply a means of cutting the budget without touching the principal rates of social welfare payments. What is even more unfortunate is that so many of these cuts have fallen on the shoulders of the poorest families and children in Ireland. One Family and our members will continue to speak and advocate on these issues and we appreciate your assistance to date and we look forward to working with you in the future.

Best wishes, Karen

Here is any update on what we’ve been doing – we have lobbied every TD and senator by phone or email and have managed to get meetings with Labour and FG politicians today to try and get changes to the proposed cuts. Senators are also raising questions for us today. We have also emailed thousands of supporters and other organisations asking for support to reverse some of the cuts. We are constantly in touch with Dept of Social Protection seeking clarification on dates and phasing in times. We can respond to any individual queries if anyone wants to call our helpline 1890622122. One Family is joining a protest tomorrow being organised by a group of enterprising lone parents and we encourage everyone to join us to show your support. 2-5pm outside the Dail Friday 9 Dec http://www.facebook.com/OneFamilyIreland#!/events/129422247170088/

On 25 October the European Parliament approved an own initiative report on the situation of single mothers, to which Eurochild contributed together with its member organisation One Family. The report outlines that in 2001 85% of single parents were women aged 25-65 and that these women are statistically less educated than married counterparts, face higher level of unemployed, are underpaid, as well as suffer bad health and increased level of stress due to their fragile situation. The issue is particularly important not only because a number of single parent households in Europe is constantly increasing, but also because they are almost three times more likely to be at risk of poverty and social exclusion than couples with children. (more…)

Jamelia has made a wonderful documentary on Single Mums showing on BBC3, for air times see http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0140p9n. Our Director Karen Kiernan has been speaking about social welfare fraud and lone parents on TV3’s Ireland AM at http://www.tv3.ie/ireland_am.php?video=39558&locID=1.65.74 in response to a very poor article in the Irish Daily Mail on the issue on Tuesday. Finally One Family was mentioned in the Irish Times where advice was being given to a separated woman who wants to get back to work, see more at http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2011/0831/1224303229511.html

For all this information and more follow us on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/OneFamilyIreland

Interesting piece by Ann Marie Hourihane in today’s Irish Times – about how single mothers seem to have been unfairly scapegoated as being in some way ‘responsible’ for the London riots see http://bit.ly/ogcar8

Thanks to the good people at Zozzy TV, our video ‘One Family Stories’ is now being shown on the huge screen at the top of Dublin’s Grafton Street. It helps spread the word about the need for acceptance of and support for one-parent families. Thanks very much Zozzy. You can see the video here

In association with the United States Embassy Dublin, One Family welcomes US Cultural Ambassador and award-winning writer Dr Brenda Flanagan to Cherish House, Dublin 2. Please join us on Friday 6 May from 10am until 12 noon to hear Dr Brenda Flanagan speak on Accomplishing your Goals as a Single Parent. Known for her inspiring talks and her performance abilities, Brenda will weave in her experiences as a writer, so anyone with an interest in writing should attend. Places are limited so early booking is vital. Please email to Stuart at sduffin@onefamily.ie or info@onefamily.ie to book your place for this free event. For details see http://bit.ly/jA9zE8