One Family undertakes research in a number of key areas. You can read and/or download recent research documents in PDF format below.
Research and guidelines on contact time between parents and young children/and babies in separated families
A common time for parents to separate is when their child or children are very young. Many families seek help in setting up and managing contact arrangements but there is no uniform approach. We see through our work with families that parents often struggle to determine how to best share the parenting of their young children. This can be extremely challenging for parents and children alike, particularly in situations where there is conflict, abuse and/or limited contact between parents.
To research this area and determine a best practice set of guidelines for parents and professionals, One Family commissioned a joint team from University College Cork and Trinity College Dublin to research Guidance on Contact Time for Infants and Young Children in Separated Families. The research was conducted by Dr Simone Mc Caughren, Dr Stephanie Holt, Dr Aisling Parkes and Soma Gregory and was funded by the Late, Late Toy Show Appeal and Community Foundation of Ireland. The best practice guidelines were developed by One Family using the research findings.
Separating Well for Children – Service Model Report
One Family delivers the Separating Well for Children Project (SWP), which it developed in 2018 and is funded by Tusla – the Child and Family Agency. SWP is a specialist support service for families who are in the process of separation or parenting post separation where conflict is challenging and has a detrimental impact on children. The service supports both parents to negotiate the separation process and move forward in their transition to new family forms, with a strong focus on the needs of children.
One Family contracted the Centre for Effective Services (CES) to strengthen the SWP service model. The purpose of this work was to ensure consistency, effectiveness, and efficiency in One Family’s delivery of SWP, and to outline next steps to scaling up SWP to reach more families in Ireland. The report by Aine Tubridy can be read below:
Human Rights Research and Guidelines for Parents and Public Sector bodies.
One Family launched new guidelines for parents and public sector organisations on human rights and one-parent families. The guidelines give parents guidance on their rights and give public sector organisations a framework for protecting the human rights of one-parent families. Public sector organisations have an obligation to abide by the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty and ensure discrimination, if it does occur, is addressed promptly and transparently.
Read the guidelines here:
Shared Parenting in Ireland Today
On Monday 30th January 2017, we published the results of our Shared Parenting Survey and accompanying policy recommendations. The survey response was overwhelming with 1,014 women and men responding.
[download]One Family_Ireland’s First National Shared Parenting Survey[/download]
Child Contact Centres
Child Contact Centre: Key Learnings
One Family’s response to the Evaluation with key learnings and recommendations for policy makers.
[download]One Family_Child Contact Centre_Key Learnings March 2014 – PDF[/download]
Child Contact Centre Evaluation 2013 – Executive Summary
Summary of the evaluation of the Child Contact Centre’s performance and impact.
[download]Child Contact Centre Executive Summary December 2013 – PDF[/download]
Child Contact Centre Evaluation 2013
The purpose of this evaluation is to evaluate the Child Contact Centre’s performance and impact and to identify key issues for future child contact service provision. [download]Child Contact Centre Evaluation December 2013 – PDF[/download]
Research on Child Contact Centres in Ireland 2009
One Family launched a major piece of qualitative research on the need for Child Contact Centres in Ireland. [download]Supporting Child Contact: The Need for Child Contact Centres in Ireland: Key Findings Conclusions and Recommendations 2009 – PDF[/download]
Employment
Lone Parents and Employment: What Are The Real Issues?
One Family, supported by the Combat Poverty Agency, conducted a major quantitative study of Lone Parents on the One Parent Family Payment. [download]Lone Parents and Employment – PDF[/download]
One Family Employer Toolkit
Supported by the Equality Authority, the Toolkit promotes equality in the workplace. It is aimed at retail businesses, because the retail sector attracts a larger proportion of lone parents than other employment sectors in the economy. [download]Employer Toolkit – PDF[/download]
Equality
Human rights based approach to achieving Social Inclusion and Equality
The European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) Ireland and One Family, supported by the Combat Poverty Agency, produced this introduction to international human rights conventions and how they can be used to advance the rights of one-parent families. [download]Human Rights – PDF[/download]
Relevant Reports
This section includes recent research conducted by other individuals, institutions or organisations on issues relevant to people parenting alone or sharing parenting, many of which One Family contributed to. These reports are included here for information purposes; it does not necessarily imply endorsement.
- ESRI report that forms part of the research programme for the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Poverty Transitions in Ireland: An Analysis of the Central Statistics Office (CSO) Longitudinal Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC), 2004-2015 (December 2017)
- Indecon Independent Review of the Amendments to the One-parent Family Payment since January 2012 (October 2017) Presented to Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection Prepared by Indecon Research Economists
- Houses of the Oireachtas Report of the Joint Committee on Social Protection Report on the Position of Lone Parents in Ireland (June 2017)
- An Independent Review to Identify the Supports and Barriers for Lone Parents in Accessing Higher Education and to Examine Measures to Increase Participation – Byrne, D. and Murray, C. (2017) Maynooth University
- Lone Parents and Activation, What Works and Why: A Review of the International Evidence in the Irish Context – Millar, M. and Crosse, R. (2016) The UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, National University of Ireland, Galway.