Dean contacted One Family because he wished to share his personal experience of when his parents separated. In the second of a series, this is Dean’s story in his own words. He is now 16 years old. “But why? But what about? But how?” These questions are always synonymous with any major change in life. […]

Dean contacted One Family because he wished to share his personal experience of when his parents separated. In the first of a series, this is Dean’s story in his own words. He is now 16 years old. When people tend to bring up living in a house with separating parents, it always seems to be […]

Travelling anywhere by any means with young children can be a challenge. These tips are intended to support you when travelling mostly on a bus or by train with young children. Boredom. Try to understand how boring the trip may be for your child. How can you make it less boring? You may feel you […]

On 8 March every year International Women’s Day celebrates the achievements of women while calling for greater equality. This year’s theme is “Make It Happen”. In 1972, led by Maura O’Dea Richards, a small group of mothers who were unmarried set about reaching others in the same situation and founded Cherish, later renamed One Family. Founder […]

Owing to essential technical maintenance, One Family will not have telephone, email or internet services this afternoon, Friday 6 March. This scheduled maintenance downtime will continue through Saturday 7 March. All systems are expected to be fully operational by 9am on Monday 9 March. We will respond to voicemails and emails as soon as possible […]

Family Situation

2015 is shaping up to be a big year for children’s rights, especially with regard to Family Law. Children are now being placed at the centre of legislation that directly affects them and their parents. Talking about your family situation can be difficult especially if you, as a parent, are struggling to cope yourself. Here […]

Today the Children and Family Relationships Bill moved to another stage in the Dáil as Minister Frances Fitzgerald brought it to the Select Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality for discussion and amendment. Having put much time and effort into representing the needs of diverse families in this legislation, One Family attended the Committee […]

Press Release  Cuts to Carer’s Allowance for Lone Parents Reversed by Tánaiste – But what about working lone parents? (Dublin, Wednesday 4 March 2015) One Family – Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and separating – welcomes Tánaiste Joan Burton’s announcement yesterday regarding people in receipt of the One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) who […]

Press Release  We’ve only had Divorce for 18 years – is that why we don’t deal with it well? (Dublin, Friday 27 February 2015) One Family – Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and separating – reflects today on the 18 years since divorce legislation came into effect in Ireland on 27 February […]

Play is an outlet for children to make sense of what they see, think and feel. It allows them the opportunity to express themselves, which is a vital part of their physical, intellectual and emotional development. Children can often struggle with their feelings and this frustration can lead to difficult behaviour, such as tantrums. It is […]

One Family is a member of The Special Interest Group – Supporting Parents in their Parenting Role. Established in December 2010 by the Centre for Effective Services, The Special Interest Group on Supporting Parents in their Parenting Role is an all-island group with 27 members including statutory and voluntary agencies involved in the delivery of parenting supports, practitioners, researchers and […]

Difficult Behaviour

Consistency is vital to teaching your children that all behaviour breeds a reaction and whether that reaction is good or bad depends on how they choose to act. Enabling them to make good choices by being consistent in your reaction is a powerful tool in handling difficult behaviour. Consistency is one of the most important […]

Dad and child's hands

Press Release Get It Right for One-Parent Families One Family Presents to Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection on Impacts of One-Parent Family Payment Changes – Policy Changes will lead to Increased Poverty (Dublin, Wednesday 18 February 2015) One Family – Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and separating – today […]

Hands

Press Release A Good News Day for Children  One Family Welcomes Children & Family Relationships Bill (Dublin, Tuesday 17 February 2015) One Family – Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and step-parenting today welcomes the passing at Cabinet of the Children & Family Relationships Bill 2015. As an organisation with 42 years of expertise in […]

Difficult Behaviour

Difficult behaviour can be tough to deal with, especially when you are already under stress. Children act out for many reasons and tantrums are often the result of frustration and misunderstanding. Here are a few tips on how to handle this difficult behaviour and to teach your children the power of positive choices. Positive parenting […]

One Family Director of Policy & Programmes, Stuart Duffin, writes on the topic of behavioural economics and social protection policy. Behavioural economics improves the realism of the psychological assumptions underlying economic theory, attempting to reunify psychology and economics in the process, and should lead to better predictions about economic behaviour and better policy prescriptions. Because […]

Active Listening

Active Listening is an important part of being an assertive parent. It allows children to express their emotions and shows your child that you are taking on board  what they are saying and making an effort to understand how they are feeling about what is going on in their lives. A child who is allowed […]

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) published the results of the 2013 Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) 2013 today, which was undertaken between March and September 2013. The HFCS collects data on household assets and liabilities, income, consumption and credit constraints. The figures released  demonstrate the effects of the overt discrimination and disadvantage experienced  by one-parent families in Ireland […]

Positive Parenting for Changing Families Cover

Does your work bring you into contact with families, parents or children? Family support workers, social workers, youth workers, therapists, educators, drugs project workers, teachers, counsellors, people who deliver training programmes and other professionals in a variety of roles will gain real value from participating in a One Family professional development programme this Spring. They include […]

Press Release “The best way out of poverty is a job,” says Joan Burton. “Where’s the education and childcare for lone parents for sustainable jobs?”asks One Family www.onefamily.ie The routeway out of poverty is a job: education is the ladder. (Dublin, Tuesday 27 January 2014) One Family – Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone and […]