Are we ready for Single Working Age payment (SWAP)

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Media release
Embargo: 1pm 13 March, 2012

Are we ready for Single Working Age Payment – Lone parents need flexibility, childcare and jobs

One Family welcomes the publication of the Report on the Single Working Age Payment (SWAP) Proposal by the Joint Committee on Jobs, Social Protection and Education. As one of the key organisations consulted in the crafting of the report we agree with the Committee’s call to the Minister not to proceed with the proposal for SWAP at this time.

Karen Kiernan, Director of One Family explains: “Lone parents have been working in part-time jobs for many years because there is insufficient access to affordable and quality childcare. Particularly important is access to before and after school times to support full-time work, this was not even achieved when the economy was in boom and there were job opportunities.”

She continues: “Budget 2012 delivered a series of harsh cuts directed at lone parents who are trying to move off social welfare. The cutting of the income disregard (ie the amount someone can earn whilst in receipt of the One-Parent Family Payment) and cuts in supports for Community Employment are retrograde steps which move poor families deeper into poverty and takes them further away from the labour market, especially at a time when the Government is going to make them seek work when their youngest child is seven years old.”

The recommendations of the report support One Family’s fundamental and  ongoing message that currently there are not enough accessible jobs in Ireland to introduce the SWAP and none of the services recommended to support families move out of poverty  are in place and are unlikely to be in place in the near future due to fiscal constraints.

As a result of this, Stuart Duffin, One Family’s Welfare to Work Manager comments: “For lone parents to have accessible and sustainable work and move their families out of persistent poverty parents need quality, affordable childcare and when they are moved onto a single working age payment the eligibility criteria for seeking work needs to be on a part-time basis as is best practice in other countries.” (see notes to editor)

He continues:  “There also needs to be some  flexibilities for parents where their child has specific needs; where the family  has recently suffered from domestic violence; they may have just separated; be studying full or part-time or in an approved training programme; or be caring for an ill or disabled person full-time.”                            Ends

Spokespersons:

Karen Kiernan, Director One Family.                 T: 01 662 9212          M: 086-850-9191

Stuart Duffin, Welfare to Work Manager           T: 01 662 9212          M: 087-0622-023

Notes to editors:

Report on the Single Working Age Payment Proposal by the Joint Committee on Jobs, Social Protection and Education                                                              (Source )

Exemptions from expectation to be available for fulltime work for lone parents in other jurisdictions:

New Zealand

You may have circumstances that make it unreasonable for us to expect you to meet your work obligations. If this is the case, you may be able to get an exemption. Exemptions are temporary and the duration depends on your individual situation, such as:

  • your child has special needs
  • you’ve just separated
  • you’ve recently suffered from domestic violence
  • you’re studying full time at level 4 or above or in an approved training course
  • your spouse or partner has recently died
  • you’re more than 27 weeks pregnant or have complications with your pregnancy
  • you’re caring for an ill or disabled person full-time.                                  (Source)

United States

The federal legislation entitled, Family Violence Option, allows states to provide time-limited exemptions from welfare eligibility requirements for victims of domestic violence. (Source)

Nordic countries

Several countries in Northern Europe have a conditional work requirement policy towards lone parents that recognises that it is unreasonable to force those parenting alone into work if affordable childcare is not available to them.                                          (Source)

United Kingdom

Single parents and jobseeker’s allowance – special rules focused on access to part-time work options and childcare.                                                                                (Source )

Press Release | Urgent Reversals Required Before Drastic Cuts Foisted on Ireland’s Poorest Families

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Media Release, 8 December 2011

 

Urgent reversals required before drastic cuts foisted on Ireland’s poorest families

One Family, the leading national organisation for one-parent families, is extremely concerned at the cuts targeted at one-parent families in Budget 2012. Our thousands of members, clients and supporters are also very concerned and our national helpline has been inundated with calls from worried and angry parents.

We are instigating a national campaign to reverse these targeted cuts at Ireland’s poorest families and we call on supporters from all over Ireland and from every political background to support us. Legislation to pass Budget 2012 is going through the Dail on Friday (tomorrow) so there is a great urgency in this campaign. We have already contacted all Ministers and TDs.

The immediate impact of Budget 2012 on one-parent families is:

  • An additional €6 per week to be paid by parents towards rent supplement
  • A loss of €120 per year towards fuel costs
  • A loss of €50 per primary school age child and €55 for secondary school age child in Back to School Clothing & Footwear Allowance cuts
  • An increase in VAT, fuel costs, school transport costs as well as school capitation grants
  • The loss of €29.80 per child per week because of the cut in the two qualified child increases where the parent is on a Community Employment Scheme and One Parent Family Payment
  • New CE scheme applicants will no longer able to retain the One Parent Family Payment and their salary from their participation in the CE scheme
  • For the minority of one-parent families with three or more children, a loss of €228 per year for a family with 3 children and €432 for those with 4 children.

The activation measures announced in Budget 2012 have been designed to cut costs to the exchequer rather than support lone parents into sustainable employment and they will not work. Some cuts will actually disconnect lone parents from the labour market in direct contradiction of government policy. They will increase rather than alleviate high levels of child and family poverty for the following reasons:

  • We are in a recession and there are no jobs
  • There are no specialist supports to help lone parents engage with education, training and the labour market
  • The level of money in the Community Childcare Subvention scheme has been cut and there will be a €25 weekly contribution to costs from FÁS and VEC trainees for Childcare Education and Training Support
  • There is poor provision of after school care in Ireland
  • There is poor childcare provision in parts of the country
  • There is very little part-time or modular education
  • Budget 2012 has cut family supports through the Family Resource Centre programme and the Family Mediation Service at a time when more families are separating
  • Slashing the income disregard will result in increased poverty levels and a disconnection from the labour market
  • Education levels of many lone parents are low and they will require long term interventions to help them progress to degree level
  • Disincentivising Community Employment as a means of gaining training, accreditation, work experience and a salary will increase a disconnection from the labour market.

We demand the following changes to Budget 2012:

  • Devise an additional payment for the poorest children in Ireland to compensate for all the cuts to family income
  • Reverse the decision to disallow the payment of partial One Parent Family Payment to those on Community Employment
  • Maintain the income disregard at current levels for the foreseeable future at €146.50 per week
  • Develop appropriate supports and services in partnership with the voluntary sector to progress lone parents into sustainable employment and pause the lowering of the age limit for OFP eligibility until this is achieved
  • Prioritise the case management of lone parents in the new National Employment and Entitlements Service and ensure all supports for those on the live register are available to OFP recipients.

Here is the context in which one-parent families in Ireland live:

  • 65% of the country’s poorest children live in one-parent families
  • You are four times more likely to live in consistent poverty in a one-parent family than other families (SILC, 2010)
  • Those parenting alone were the most negatively affected by the previous budget, losing almost 5% of their annual income. This compared with just a 1.3% fall for high income married couples (TASC, 2011)
  • One-parent families were poor in the Celtic Tiger and remain so now
  • Low education levels (ESRI, Persistent at Risk of Poverty in Ireland 2011 and Growing-Up in Ireland 2011).

For more information contact:

Hilary Fennell, Communications Manager 01 6629212/087 2359515

Stuart Duffin, Welfare to Work Manager 01 6629212/087 0622023

Karen Kiernan, Director 01 6629212/086 8509191

One-parent families to suffer under today’s harsh budget

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5 December 2011 Media Release

One-parent families to suffer from today’s harsh budget

Ireland’s poorest families, particularly those parenting alone, have been abandoned by today’s budget and left to face the worst, according to One Family, Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families. As he announced today’s budget, Minister Howlin said  ‘…I believe that we have a duty to protect the most vulnerable in our society, and to provide the safety net of social protection in what are very extraordinary times. We must also get people back to work…’ One Family believes that, in the case of one-parent families, the Government has failed on both fronts.

Under the new budget, the upper age limit of the youngest child for new claimants of the One-Parent Family Payment will be reduced to 7 years on a phased basis. Karen Kiernan, One Family Director comments, ‘This means that, by 2014, lone parents of children aged 7 will be deemed available for full-time work despite the fact that we are in a recession, there are hardly any jobs out there and, even if there were, there is no comprehensive affordable childcare or after school care.’ Read more

Child Benefit cut is stealth tax on children

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MEDIA RELEASE: 22 November 2011

One Family, Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families, say that any reduction in Child Benefit would be a blow to all middle-earner families, but for some families, in particular those parenting alone, it would be a further step towards living in consistent poverty. Read more

Please join us for Handel’s Messiah in Aid of One Family tonight 24 November – last night was amazing so don’t miss this opportunity

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Media release: 3 November 2011

Messiah Performance in aid of One Family 23 & 24 November

@ 8pm, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin 8. Tickets €28

One Family, Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families, is delighted to announce that it has been chosen as the benefiting charity for this year’s performances of Handel’s Messiah by the Culwick Choral Society. With performances on 23 and 24 November at Dublin’s St Patrick’s Cathedral, all proceeds will go towards the askonefamily helpline for one-parent families.

Karen Kiernan, Director of One Family says, ‘Parenting is tough work, I know. But doing it all alone can be even harder. That’s where our askonefamily helpline comes in. We offer support to all members of one-parent families in need of help and information – or simply a listening ear. We have had a 20% increase in calls since the recession and are very thankful to Culwick for giving us this opportunity to raise funds.’ Read more