One Family briefs TDs on crises impacting one-parent families and urge them to “Get It Right”

26th March 2026

One Family will brief TDs and policymakers in the AV Room at Leinster House today about critical issues impacting one-parent families across Ireland. Urgent political action is needed on issues including family law reform, child poverty, family homelessness and access to education for one-parent families across Ireland.

Event speakers include:

• Professor Katriona O’Sullivan, author of Poor
• Naomi Connolly, Parent from One Family Advocacy Project
• Joyce, New Futures Employability Programme Participant
• Karen Kiernan, CEO One Family
• Sinéad Gibney, Social Democrats TD and Lone Parent

TDs will be given a policy brief outlining critical issues in these areas and actions they can take, including:

• Prevent family homelessness by increasing housing assistance payments in line with market rents and increasing funding for tenant-in-situ scheme.
• Include one-parent families as a named group in government’s new Child & Family Homelessness Action Plan.

• Extend Jobseekers Transitional Payment for lone parents until their youngest child is 18.
• Invest in out-of-court supports such as parenting courses, counselling and mediation to help families reach child-centred agreements and avoid family court where possible.
• Fund specialised services nationwide that support families experiencing high levels of conflict or domestic violence, such as One Family’s Separating Well for Children service.
• Move from a “work-activation” government approach for lone parents on social protection to an evidence-based “education-first” one. This would address high levels of in-work poverty and create long-term savings for government, along with financial security for families.

Professor Katriona O’Sullivan, Author of “Poor” said:
For far too long we have let the most vulnerable carry the brunt of the unequal distribution of wealth. Now is the time for this to stop. Now is the time for us to do better. We are a rich country; our GDP is one of the highest in the EU- yet the rate of children at risk of poverty is growing year on year; and the distance between the rich and the poor is expanding. Lone parent families are the most affected by poverty. They are the ones being left behind in terms of access to education and high status employment. As someone who benefited from excellent policies which were in place in the late 90’s I know first hand how important it is to support people out of the poverty trap. I know first hand how wonderful it is to be cared for by state policies, to be given the opportunity to achieve great things. One Family’s Get It Right campaign offers a clear blueprint on how to address these issues. We know how to solve these issues- the question is are we brave enough, do we care enough. We need the political will and courage of convictions from our elected representatives to action the steps being proposed by the Get It Right campaign.”

Naomi Connolly, Lone Parent, One Family Advocacy Project said:
“For many people fleeing abuse, the lack of available properties means that even with supports like Domestic Violence HAP, there is simply nowhere to go. Survivors are faced with an impossible choice: accept placement in homeless accommodation, which can be unsafe and unsuitable for children, or return to the family home and risk further abuse. This stark reality forces victims to weigh the fear and instability of homelessness against the dangers of remaining in a violent environment, highlighting the urgent need for genuine, accessible housing solutions for those escaping domestic violence.”

Karen Kiernan, CEO of One Family said:
“One-parent families across Ireland are being impacted by multiple, interconnected criseis. As the recent SILC data shows, enforced deprivation and consistent poverty rose for one-parent families in 2025, even with cost-of-living measures in place and these have now disappeared. 48.7% of children in one-parent families are living in deprivation and 58% of homeless families are one-parent families; this is a shocking statistic which should be prompting urgent political action. But there are solutions and we welcome the opportunity to brief TDs and policymakers on the evidence-based actions they can take to address, not only poverty, but family homelessness, family law and access to education.”

Sinéad Gibney, TD said:
“I raised my daughter as a single mum. One-parent families are a huge part of Irish society, but they’re often pushed out to the margins. Right now, we have too many lone parents and their children living in poverty, in homelessness, made vulnerable by a system that isn’t built for them. This is a chance to look at how we can create an Ireland where all families are cherished equally, where one-parent families are supported and celebrated.”

You can learn more about One Family’s Get It Right campaign by watching the campaign video.

[ENDS]

For more information, please contact Vicky Masterson, One Family Communications Manager on 083 447 0645 / vmasterson@onefamily.ie

Notes to Editor:

• One Family is Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting, and separating. We have been working with one-parent families for over 50 years. We provide a range of direct services to parents and children, along with campaigning and advocating for legislative and social change to deliver true equality for all families. Services include direct family support, parenting courses, New Futures employability programme, AskOneFamily helpline and counselling for those experiencing an unplanned or crisis pregnancy.
• One Family was hosted in the AV Briefing Room by Sinéad Gibney, TD, Social Democrats.

21st March 2026 

To mark International Single Parents Day, One Family have launched their #GetItRight campaign, calling for urgent government action on family law, child poverty, family homelessness and access to education for one-parent families across Ireland.  

If Government gets services, policies and legislation right for one-parent families, then they will be right for all families in Ireland. 

We’re calling on government to: 

Invest in out-of-court supports: Not only would this address lengthy court waiting times, but it would also provide best outcomes for children. Families need support, parenting courses, mediation and counselling to avoid adversarial, traumatic court cases. This should include funding for specialised services that support families experiencing high levels of conflict or domestic violence, such as One Family’s Separating Well for Children service, and therapeutic services for children.   

Target Child Poverty: Most poor children in Ireland live in one-parent families and lone parents experience high levels of in-work poverty. If the government wants to reduce child poverty, they can do this by targeting one-parent families. An efficient way of doing this is by increasing the amount of income excluded for lone parents who receive One Parent Family Payment or Jobseekers Transitional Payment to €222.75 per week; the equivalent of 16 working hours at National Minimum Wage.  

Stop Family Homelessness: Government cannot accept monthly increases in child and family homelessness as normal. They need to immediately fund homelessness prevention, including the tenant-in-situ scheme, and increase housing assistance payments in line with local market rents. These payments were last increased in 2022 and the gap between the payment and rent that parents are forced to bridge is fuelling poverty, deprivation and increasing family homelessness. 

Improve Access to Education: Move from a “work-activation” government approach to lone parents on social welfare to an evidence-based “education-first” one. This would address high levels of in-work poverty and create long-term savings for government, along with financial security for families.   

Karen Kiernan, CEO of One Family said: 

“We have achieved huge, positive changes for one-parent families in Ireland since our organisation was founded 54 years ago and that is to be welcomed and acknowledged. But we’ve moved from putting lone parents in institutions to placing them in systems which harm them. This includes a family law system which doesn’t deliver a child-centred approach, a housing crisis which has created epidemic levels of family homelessness in one-parent families and a “work-activation” approach to lone parents and employment, which fuels high levels of in-work poverty.  

Throughout 2026, our #GetItRight campaign will highlight these issues and our solutions to solving them. These are fixable issues, but we need action from our government and commitment to positive change. We look forward to political engagement on these critical issues for one-parent families.” 

You can watch the campaign video on One Family’s website now.  

[ENDS] 

For more information, please contact Vicky Masterson, One Family Communications Manager on 083 447 0645 / vmasterson@onefamily.ie   

Notes to Editor:  

1. One Family is Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting, and separating. We have been working with one-parent families for over 50 years. We provide a range of direct services to parents and children, along with campaigning and advocating for legislative and social change to deliver true equality for all families. Services include direct family support, parenting courses, New Futures employability programme, AskOneFamily helpline and counselling for those experiencing an unplanned or crisis pregnancy. You can learn more about One Family at www.onefamily.ie  

Christmas doesn’t have to be a difficult time for parents who do not live together and share parenting of their child. There are, of course, things that will need to be worked out. What is most important is to do this well in advance, agreeing to solutions and a plan. Agree your plan as early as you can, to help ensure a happy, fun-filled Christmas for all members of the family, centered around your child. 

Achieving successful shared parenting over Christmas

• Start thinking it through and planning as soon as you can.
  
• Plan with your child. Talk with your child about Christmas and explore with them that it lasts for more than one day.
  
• Tell them that both you and their other parent love them and enjoy time with them at Christmas. Ask your child how they would like Christmas to look. Talk with them about the options available.
  
• Try to hear your child in this. Most parents prefer to have their child with them on Christmas Day, and in many separated families, this is not possible. See Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and St Stephen’s Day all as Christmas. You will have to agree if each year one of you has the children with them on the 25^th and the other parent has them on the 24^th or 26^th.
  
• Talk with your child’s other parent. Ask them what they hope Christmas will look like and then start to negotiate on contact. Use assertive communication skills. Try not to jump in with a no straight away to what they hope for. Think of your child’s needs and how best you can both meet them. Don’t have these discussions in front of your child.
  
• Children love Christmas – if they don’t have parents arguing over them. All the gifts in the world won’t help if your child is distressed or worried. Talk and plan in advance and avoid conflict. Give each other space to think about what the other parent wants, then talk again about your shared plans.
  
• Explain to your child what will happen and that you and the other parent will try your best to ensure they have the Christmas they hope for. Make sure your child has the information they need in advance.
  
• Children are not going to object to two Christmases. Santa can leave gifts in both homes. Santa knows, of course, that some children have two homes. Families comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes.
  
• Talk about buying the gifts early on. Both parents usually want to be involved in this. Can each of you buy your own gifts from your child’s list and agree to give them on the one day or over two days? Often children get too much on the 25^th – maybe they would appreciate receiving the gifts more spread out. Children need to share the excitement with both parents.
  
• If you think that communicating or creating a shared plan together wouldn’t be possible, One Family offer a range of family support which may be helpful to you.
  

Next you might like to read 10 Ways to Successful Shared Parenting.

Helpline

Our askonefamily helpline is open 10am – 3pm, Monday – Friday. We provide detailed, confidential information on social-welfare entitlements and finances, family law, housing, education, childcare and parenting.

We also offer a listening-support service for people who need help parenting alone, sharing parenting or separating. You can call the askonefamily helpline on 0818 662 212 or 01 662 9212, or email your query to 
helpline@onefamily.ie.

Naomi Connolly from One Family’s Advocacy Project tells Social Inclusion Forum about her experience as a lone parent and changes she wants government to make

For immediate release
 Thursday 8th May 2025
 

Naomi Connolly, a parent representative in One Family’s Advocacy Project, today told the Social Inclusion Forum of the myriad barriers lone parents face when returning to education to try and build a better life for themselves and their children. Naomi has three children and has been parenting alone for 10 years. She returned to education five years ago and has just completed her thesis in Social Care.

In a powerful speech to attendees, Naomi outlined her experience as a lone parent, the difficulties facing her returning to education to improve her employability and lift her family out of poverty and the need for government to provide targeted and adequate supports for lone parents returning to education.  One Family welcomed the invitation from the Department of Social Protection for Naomi to speak at the Social Inclusion Forum and called on government to urgently address this issue as well as the chronic deprivation facing the majority of one-parent families in Ireland, with the following actions:
 

• Adopt an ‘education first’ approach providing tailored, long term supports to lone parents who wish to return to education including: enhanced financial grants, a public childcare model with free/heavily subsidised places for children of one-parent families, improved support and flexibility for lone parents when participating in course related mandatory work placements. 

• Mainstream the One Family New Futures Employability Programme which is an award winning, specialised bridging programme designed specifically for lone parents who wish to return to education and employment from social welfare
   

• Exclude child maintenance payments from secondary benefits including the means test for the SUSI grant, Students Assistance Fund, the National Childcare Scheme, for Social Housing assessments and Local Authority rents.
   

Naomi Connolly, Parent Representative, One Family Advocacy Project said:  

“When my marriage ended, our lives turned upside down. It was so hard trying to figure everything out and make sure my children have the life they deserve. I took a risk going back to education. I wasn’t sure how we would manage and really, a lot how we did manage was down to luck, help and support from my college and from different charities along the way. I am almost out the other side and now I can see a better future for us all, but it shouldn’t have been this difficult. It should never be a risk to return to education but for lone parents, it is.” 

Carly Bailey, Policy Manager at One Family said:  

“The odds are stacked against one-parent families and without government intervention, this will not change. Returning to education as a lone parent is daunting and demanding, but systemic barriers mean completing that education often feels impossible. It’s critical that government provides targeted, ongoing supports for one-parent families returning to education to ensure lone parents can complete their courses and succeed, including; improved financial support, flexible learning options and delivering a public system of early childhood education and care to remove the critical barriers faced by lone parents returning to education. Targeted measures not only empower parents, but they can also break the cycle of generational poverty as children experience better outcomes in terms of health, education, income and overall well-being.

There are almost 220,000 families headed by a lone parent in Ireland and CSO statistics2 tells us that almost half of all one-parent families are living in enforced deprivation. Returning to education can be a vital step for a lone parent to lift their family out of poverty, but too many lone parents are prevented from doing that because of the lack of supports available to them on that journey; we are calling on government to change that and put in place the supports needed to give lone parents the best chance at success.” 

Karen Kiernan, CEO of One Family 

“Through our new Advocacy Project, we were able to link Naomi with this opportunity to speak at the Social Inclusion Forum, to have her experience as a lone parent to be heard by the Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary, senior Department officials as well as other civil society organisations.

It is critical that the lived experiences of one-parent families are listened to, recognised and valued in the spaces where policy and legislative changes can occur. While Naomi’s experiences are unique, there is a universal theme at play due to structural barriers faced by so many who parent alone: enforced deprivation for one-parent families, the struggle to survive day-to-day and the nearly impossible journey for a lone parent to navigate a return to education, along with their caring responsibilities and economic provision for their children.
These barriers are not unbreakable; they were designed by our systems and can be dismantled by our systems.  We are calling on government, and specifically Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary, to use equitable, evidence-based policy making to improve the lives of one-parent families by ensuring every parent and child has a decent standard of living and can afford to have their basic needs met.”
 

[ENDS] 

Available for interview: Naomi Connolly, Parent Representative of One Family’s Advocacy Project; Carly Bailey, Project Manager, One Family; Karen Kiernan, CEO, One Family

For more information, please contact Vicky Masterson, One Family Communications Manager on 083 447 0645 / vmasterson@onefamily.ie
 

Notes to Editor: 

1. One Family’s Advocacy Project aims to embed the experience and voice of one-parent families in the areas where policy and legislation changes occur. The project gives lone parents an opportunity to share their experience and perspective on the social and economic challenges facing one-parent families and advocate for the changes needed to improve their lives. Panel members are given the opportunity to work with One Family to develop our policy and advocacy work and also with decision makers in the Dáil, our local councils, government departments and in Europe, as opportunities arise. This 2-year project is funded by UBIDAC via The Community Foundation of Ireland. 

1. One Family Ireland was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s national 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 askonefamily national helpline on 0818 66 22 12, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals. For further information, visit www.onefamily.ie. The askonefamily helpline can be contacted on 0818 66 22 12 or 01 662 9212 or helpline@onefamily.ie. 

1. The Social Inclusion Forum is an annual national event hosted by the Department of Social Protection. It provides people affected by poverty and social exclusion, as well as the community organisations representing them, the opportunity to come together with officials from relevant Government Departments and the Minister for Social Protection to discuss poverty and social inclusion policy and related issues of common concern. It also allows for discussion about the implementation of the Roadmap for Social Inclusion, the national strategy for poverty reduction and improved social inclusion. The event is organised by the Social inclusion Division, with the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) Ireland and Community Work Ireland (CWI) as event partners. 

One Family  joins 16 international organisations to launch new #SingleParentCommunity campaign

Friday 21^st March 2025
For immediate release

To mark international Single Parents Day, One Family has partnered with Trinity College Dublin and Glasgow Caledonian University to launch a new campaign highlighting the history, lived experiences and misconceptions facing one-parent families, and to call on governments globally to develop better policies to support one-parent families.

The #SingleParentCommunity campaign includes an international group of historians, policymakers and NGOs, led by Glasgow Caledonian University and Trinity College Dublin, and funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council. To launch the campaign, a powerful new short animation Time for a New Chapter, produced by Media Co-op, has been released, reflecting the history and the lived experiences of single parents, the pride and strength in single parenthood, and the misconceptions that many lone parents face.

This new campaign is calling on government in Ireland, and internationally, to develop adequate policies to support one-parent families including:

• Affordable childcare
• Secure housing and financial stability
• Fairer social security and greater respect

Members of the public are also encouraged to share their ideas of how governments can better support one-parent families at https://www.vopfn.org/timeforachange.

The project was co-produced with network members including Dr Janet Greenlees, Reader in Health History at Glasgow Caledonian University, Professor Lindsey Earner-Byrne of Trinity College Dublin, Karen Kiernan, CEO One Family and Terese Edwards of the National Council for Single Mothers and their Children, Australia.

TCD Prof of Contemporary Irish History, Lindsey Earner-Byrne said:

“Bringing historical research together with contemporary policy and NGO expertise was extremely powerful in enabling us to see the roots of the contemporary challenges faced by single parent families. We could track the punitive response of the workhouses of the 1830s through to the stigmatisation of lone parents in need of state support now. It became very clear to us that if Ireland centred the single parent in its policies, then all other families would benefit. In essence, this collaborative animation came out of our collective insights about the resilience of single parent families and the degree to which the historic shadow of stigma, blame and marginalisation persists. We want to stress that it is time for a new chapter!”

Karen Kiernan, CEO One Family said :

“We are delighted to have collaborated on the development of this important animation highlighting the joy and challenges of parenting alone. We plan to use this video to inform policymakers working to change hearts, minds and policies so that one-parent families can be supported to move out of poverty and into lives of dignity.

One in four families with children in Ireland are one-parent families, including over 356,000 children. One-parent families across Ireland continue to face severe financial hardship, as demonstrated by recent CSO figures, and deprivation is increasing for many families who are struggling to survive. On International Single Parents Day, we are calling on our government, and specifically Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary, to use evidence-based decision making and targeted payments for the poorest children who live in one-parent families.”

[ENDS]

Available for interview: Lindsey Earner-Byrne, Professor of Contemporary History, Trinity College Dublin / Karen Kiernan, CEO One Family

For more information, please contact Vicky Masterson, One Family Communications Manager on 083 447 0645 / vmasterson@onefamily.ie

Notes to Editor:

1. The Vulnerability & One Parent Family Network (VOPFN) is a shared forum for historians, archivists and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) working on one-parent families in the OECD countries of England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Through participatory research it draws upon the collective insights and expertise of this group to explore the similarities and differences between these NGOs and the role of history in contemporary and future one-parent family policy and experience. The network was established through a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research
2. One Family Ireland was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s national 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 askonefamily national helpline on 0818 66 22 12, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals. For further information, visit onefamily.ie. The askonefamily helpline can be contacted on 0818 66 22 12or 01 662 9212 or helpline@onefamily.ie.”

3. Lindsey Earner-Byrne is the Professor of Contemporary Irish History and the Director of the Centre for Modern and Contemporary Irish History at Trinity College Dublin. She has researched and published widely on modern Irish history with a particular focus on poverty, welfare, gender, sexuality, health and vulnerable and marginalised groups. Most recently she has co-authored a history of Ireland’s abortion journey with Professor Diane Urquhart of Queen’s University Belfast, The Irish Abortion Journey, 1920-2018 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019). She narrated and co-authored documentary Forgotten: The Widows of the Irish Revolution(RTÉ One, May 2022), short film on gender violence during the Irish Civil War for Mná100, and was on the UCC editorial team for RTE’s landmark three part series The Civil War (2022).

Video links:

Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/1060925212/08ac1dc373

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQZ2P49eghg

As summer winds down, it is time to start thinking about school again. For parents with young children, that means looking into preschools for your children. Sending your child to preschool for the first time is a big step in both you and your child’s life, and it is important to make sure both of you are prepared to take that step. There are many ways to see if your child is ready for preschool, and in this week’s edition of parenting tips, we look at 10 ways to prepare your child for preschool.

1. Sit back and look at how much your child has grown in the past 3 years. Ask yourself if you are really supporting them to be more responsible, allowing them make choices and have more control over what they want and how they do things.
2. Ensure your child is toilet trained and able to manage in the toilet unaided.
3. Ensure your child can use a spoon to feed themselves, that they can recognise their belongings, get out their lunch and tidy away by themself.
4. Support your child to learn the rules of friendship, taking turns, sharing, asking for what they want and being inclusive of all children.
5. Play school with them at home. Help them act out their fears around school and through role play help them understand what will be expected of them in preschool.
6. Explore with them how they need to behave in preschool and what will happen if they misbehave.
7. Talk with them about the other children who will be there and how they will be very friendly with some and may not really like some children. Encourage them to have time for everyone and to aim to be friendly with all the children.
8. Visit the preschool in advance. Understand the policies and procedures in advance as a parent and help your child know what their day will look like in preschool. There are great differences between many preschools.
9. Keep preschool fresh in your child’s mind over the summer time. Help them be ready for school. Help them be confident by preparing them well and encouraging them to practice at home asking questions and resolving small disputes in a positive manner
10. Don’t put any pressure on your child. It is not university, so relax about whether they know their colours and numbers. They will learn if they are happy and feel supported to do so.

This week’s ’10 Ways to’ is by One Family’s Director of Children and Parenting Services, Geraldine Kelly.

For support and advice on any of these topics, call askonefamily on lo-call 1890 66 22 12 or emailsupport@onefamily.ie.

Image credit: Pixabay

With a young child, one of the most trying times can be night time.  We all expect to be awake with babies and infants, but what if your child is 3 years of age and still waking you at night? Parents and children need their rest after a long day of work, school, or play, although sleep is often interrupted by a cry for help from another room.  As parents, it’s impossible to ignore our children, yet we all need a good night’s sleep and we want the same for our children as well.  Not getting enough sleep can affect how we parent and many other aspects of our lives. We explore 10 Ways to Survive Sleepless Nights.

1. If you know to expect that your child might call you during the night, it’s best to just accept it rather than dread it, as children will pick up on your anxiety.
2. Try to get to bed yourself very early at least 3 nights a week – even if you don’t really feel like it – so you can get hopefully 4-5 hours of continuous sleep before the first call from your child.
3. Stay calm during the night. Remember that it’s okay to forget the rules at times. If they will sleep well in your bed take them in, or get into bed with them if you can. A double bed for young children can be great if you have the space; at least you’ll have room then!
4. Talk with your child during the day about sleeping. Praise them if they sleep well and try to encourage them to call you when it starts to get bright, not when it is dark. Encourage self-soothing such as cuddling up with favourite teddy bears. Be extra generous with praise for any attempt they make to sleep better in their own bed without calling you. Talk to them about how sleep fills them up with energy for the next day and how they need it for the busy day ahead of them. Help them to understand and like the idea of sleeping, and talk with them about why parents need sleep too.
5. Try to ensure that during the day (not at bedtime), that you talk over things that are happening with them too. All kinds of things can play on your child’s mind that you might not be aware of: new home, new baby, getting in trouble, starting school etc. Dreams can wake them with anxiety.
6. If you live with another adult take turns to get up to the child – take every second night – then at least you are both getting a good sleep a few nights every week.
7. What if you have two children waking in the night? If safe to do so, and you have a big bed and side rails – and you have not been drinking alcohol or are impaired in any way –  it can be good to take them on a sleepover into your bed on occasion. This could mean you all get to sleep till morning, or at least the early hours.
8. Try not to focus on how little sleep you get. Remember that a lot of parents are in the same situation. Think about how you might be able to incorporate opportunities for sleep into your own routine. If you travel on public transport, perhaps take a nap on the bus or train; or have one in the morning at home if your child is at creche or school. Explore if anyone can mind your child once a week for a few hours during which you can look forward to some sleep; for example, arranging rotating play dates with another parent.
9. Build some positives into your day. For example, look forward to some nice breakfast to give yourself a boost to get going. Something like fruit and yoghurt doesn’t have to cost much or take a lot of time to prepare. When we are really tired, we can feel somewhat low, especially if we’re parenting alone without many opportunities to plan for some sleep for ourselves; so it’s very important to actively build in these little positives to our routine.
10. Support your child to sleep well by following a bedtime routine and providing them with a restful space. What is the room like that they sleep in? Do they like it? Do they have cuddly teddies they have a good bond with during the day? Have they a night light? Is it a calm, secure, peaceful area?

Along with this post, you might like to also read ‘10 Ways to Establish a Bedtime Routine.’

’10 Ways to’ is by One Family’s Director of Children and Parenting Services, Geraldine Kelly.

For support and advice on any of these topics, call askonefamily on lo-call 1890 66 22 12 or email support@onefamily.ie. Find out more about our parenting programmes here.

Image credit: Pixabay

The Quarterly National Household Survey released today by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) reveals the most recent employment statistics for the period April-June (Q2) 2017. One Family has analysed the findings in relation to people who are parenting alone.

• In Q2 2017, the employment rate of lone parents (aged 15-64) was 58.5% (up 2.1% from 56.4%). This compares with 73.9 % (up 0.9% from 73.0%) for the adult members of couples without children and 76% (up 3.9% from 72.1%) for the adult members of couples with children.
• The employment rate of lone parents (aged 15-64) whose youngest child was aged 0 to 5 years was 46.8% (up 0.8% from 46.0%) in Q2 2017 compared to 59.8 % (up 2.6% from 57.2%) where the youngest child was aged 6 to 11, and 65.6% (up 9.2% from 56.4%) where the youngest child was aged 12 to 17. This indicates that, as children get older, the prohibitive costs of childcare are reduced and lone parents are more likely to engage in work.
• There were 6,400 (down 1,400 from 7,500) lone parents classified as long-term unemployed in Q2 2017, compared to 22,400 (down 12,000 from 34,400) adult members of couples with children classified as long-term unemployed in the same period.
• On average, 55.3% (up 1.2% from 54.1%) of lone parents were participating in the labour market in Q2 2017. The participation rate of males in couples with children was 87.1% (down  0.7% from 87.8%) while the corresponding participation rate for females was 64.2% (down 0.2% from 64.4%). This dispels the myth that lone parents are not engaging in, and seeking, work outside the home.

One Family remains acutely concerned about the numbers of lone parents in precarious and low-paid employment, particularly since the reform of the One-Parent Family Payment that has pushed many lone parents into employment that has kept them and their children living in poverty.

The Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) 2015 results released in January 2017 showed that 58% (almost three in five) of lone parent households with one or more children experienced enforced deprivation. This compares to 25% of the general population who experienced deprivation. People in lone parent households continue to have the lowest disposable income out of all households with children in the State.

The Indecon Independent Review of the Amendments to the One-parent Family Payment since January 2012, released last Monday, showed that 63% of the respondents in full-time employment stated that they cannot afford 3+ items on the deprivation list, meaning that they are most definitely experiencing deprivation daily, and in-work poverty.

Further Quarterly National Household Survey information from the CSO is available here.

The Department of Education has today issued a review completed by academics at Maynooth University which sought to identify the barriers lone parents face in accessing higher level education. The review also examined the trends in participation and completion rates by lone parents in higher education and the range of measures that are currently available to support lone parents. One Family was consulted as part of this process as a representative stakeholder group.

The recommendations of the Report echo One Family’s recent Pre-Budget Submission. Lone parents need additional supports that recognise their parenting responsibilities in order to access educational opportunities.

A summary of the key findings from the report is below:

• Lone parents have attracted considerable policy attention in welfare and education and training, but much less specific attention has been paid to lone parents in higher education and seeking to widen access for these families.
• Key areas of social policy which are impacting on access to education include One Parent Family Payment (OFP) reform, housing, and childcare policy.
• Some lone parents are likely to experience considerable challenges in meeting the costs of attending college, paying rent, raising a family, working, and paying for childcare. These financial constraints are likely to influence decision-making around attending higher education either on a part-time or full-time basis.
• While the maintenance portion of SUSI education grants only provides a contribution towards the costs of participating in education, because lone parents have higher living costs than school leavers, the efficacy of the student grant is limited further.
• The complexity of the current system of supports was also highlighted in the report, including the inadequate dissemination of information, guidance and awareness raising to lone parents regarding the ‘bundles’ of supports that are offered by different government departments and agencies. Intreo case workers also require more training and awareness in this area.

Based on these findings the following recommendations have been made to Government to increase lone parents’ participation in education at third level:

• The maintenance grant contribution by SUSI must be reviewed and increased for all students, and particularly for lone parents.
• Lone parents who have transferred to BTEA were highlighted as the most economically vulnerable group among lone parent welfare recipients. The re-instatement of the student grant scheme – maintenance grant – for this group would create a more equitable, less complicated and targeted approach for supporting lone parents in higher education.
• Meeting the needs of lone parents should be part of the ethos of each Higher Education Institutions (HEI). This needs to be very explicitly stated by colleges and universities who have the responsibility of welcoming lone parents into its campus and giving them the tools and supports to succeed.
• Provide additional funding for lone parents either in the form of cash transfers or in the form of universal scholarships for lone parents within HEIs
• Measures introduced under the proposed Affordable Childcare Scheme should be articulated in a clear and meaningful way to lone parents, HEIs, lone parent representative groups and Intreo case workers. It is also important that all lone parents, irrespective of welfare entitlements, or if they are studying part-time or full-time have access to supported childcare.

The full report  ‘An Independent Review to Identify the Supports and Barriers for Lone Parents in Accessing Higher Education and to Examine Measures to Increase Participation’  is available here.

Following publication of the report, the Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton, TD, and the Minister of State for Higher Education, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, TD, have announced €16.5m for new initiatives to widen access to higher education over the next three years, and declared a focus on helping lone parents to access higher level education.

The initiatives, according to the Department of Education and Skills, are:

• Funding bursaries worth €5,000 for 600 students coming from non-traditional backgrounds into college, with support for at least 120 socio-economically disadvantaged lone parents. This will be a €6m regional call over three years.
• Funding for support programmes to help 2,000 students, of which 200 will be lone parents, from non-traditional backgrounds enter college and successfully complete their course. This will be a €7.5m regional call over three years.
• A further €3m over three years in increased funding for the hardship supports to help students, with lone parents being prioritised.
• The groups being targeted include: entrants from under-represented socio-economic groups and communities; entrants with disabilities; mature entrants; members of the Irish Traveller community; students entering on the basis of a further education award; part-time flexible learners; as well as socio-economically disadvantaged lone parents and ethnic minorities.

While these initiatives are to be welcomed, we call on Government to take further action on the recommendations contained in this comprehensive Report and in our Pre-Budget Submission, and to ensure that appropriate budgetary decisions are made in the coming weeks to support these measures.

Ahead of the annual Pre-Budget Forum taking place today, One Family joined with Barnardos, Children’s Rights Alliance, National Youth Council of Ireland and the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul to call on Government to ensure Budget 2018 includes key provisions to tackle child poverty as we are deeply concerned that one in nine children in Ireland remain in consistent poverty. We believe not enough is being done to remedy this. You can read our jointly issued press release here.

One Family’s Pre-Budget Submission 2018 targets child poverty as, according to SILC (2008-2015), children in one-parent households are almost four times more likely to live in consistent poverty than those in two-parent households. Our Submission also focuses on in-work supports to make work pay. Reforms of the One-Parent family Payment (OFP) have resulted in only marginal increases in employment rates for some one-parent families, a reduction in employment for those children over 12, and higher rates and child poverty and deprivation in these families. The other areas we focus on are:

• Housing & Homelessness,
• Access to Education & Training,
• Early Years, Out-of-School and Afterschool Childcare, and
• Family Law Courts Reform.

You can read our Pre-Budget Submission 2018, which includes our analysis and recommendations, on this link.

#EndChildPoverty

#MakeWorkPay

#Budget2018

Press Release

Cherish/One Family Celebrates 45 Years of Achievement for Lone Parents Including Abolition of Status of Illegitimacy

Reiterates that Government Action is Needed Now to Stop Rising Rates of Child Poverty

 Organisation moves to Smithfield, Dublin 7 in July

(Dublin, Tuesday 27 June 2017) One Family – Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone and sharing parenting – celebrates its 45^th anniversary in 2017. One Family was founded as Cherish in 1972. In that year, Maura O’Dea Richards placed an ad in the paper in the hope of reaching other women who were unmarried with children. A small group of brave, determined women soon banded together and went on to provide supports and services and to campaign for change despite widespread societal resistance. One Family relocates to a more accessible and larger building in Smithfield, Dublin 7 in July to be able to offer services to more parents and children in one-parent families.

Two of the organisation’s most significant achievements were the introduction of the unmarried mother’s allowance in 1973, as the One Parent Family Payment was then called, and the abolition of the status of illegitimacy in 1987. This work has continued and expanded. A name change to One Family in 2004 recognised the new diversity of family forms headed by one parent. Today, while society has progressed, many of the same barriers that must be overcome by people parenting alone as they attempt to access employment and education remain; and the Constitution, far removed from the reality for today’s families, still only recognises the married family form.

Karen Kiernan, One Family CEO, comments: “Tomorrow we will also release our Annual Review for 2016, highlighting that child poverty rates continue to increase and that one-parent families remain those most at risk of consistent deprivation. This is a direct result of the barriers that prevent people who parent alone from accessing sustainable employment and education opportunities, such as lack of affordable childcare and secure housing. We saw an increase in 2016 of clients becoming, and at risk of, homelessness. We also saw a significant increase in calls to our askonefamily helpline from parents who are separating, particularly in requests for supports for children experiencing parental separation.

Karen continues: “We are proud to celebrate our 45^th year and all that has been achieved to date. Our history inspires us to never give up. We will continue to fight to ensure that Government takes urgent, real action to stop the rising rates of child poverty in Ireland today and to ensure provision of the services and supports that lone parents and separating parents and their children need.”

Tomorrow, Wednesday 28 June, Cherish House and its decades of history will be celebrated with an exhibition featuring photographs, documents, letters and other items from One Family’s archives. An Open Door Day runs from 10am-4pm and members of the public with connections to Cherish/One Family are invited to visit 2 Lower Pembroke Street, Dublin 2 to share their memories of Cherish House.

One Family’s Annual Review 2016 is available to read here.

One Family is fundraising for refurbishment of its new headquarters in Smithfield.

/Ends.

About One Family One Family was founded in 1972 as Cherish and celebrates its 45^th year in 2017 when the organisation will also relocate to Smithfield, Dublin 7. It 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 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 (www.familyday.ie).

For further information, visit www.onefamily.ie.

Available for Interview

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

Valerie Maher, Policy & Programmes Manager | t: 01 662 9212

Further Information/Scheduling

Shirley Chance, Director of Communications | t: 01 622 9212 or 087 414 8511

Press Release

Census 2016 Shows Increase in One-Parent Family Households and in People who are Divorced Reflecting the Real Diversity of Families in Today’s Modern Ireland

Government must step up with policies and services

(Dublin, Thursday 6^th April 2017) One Family – Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting, and separating – responds to the latest Census 2016 figures released today by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The Census shows that there were 218,817 families in Ireland headed by one parent in 2016; an increase of over 3,500 families since Census 2011. The vast majority, 86.4%, were headed by women. Almost 90,000 of these parents indicated that they were single; a further 50,496 were widowed; and the remaining 68,378 were separated or divorced. Nationally, the number of divorced people in Ireland has increased from 87,770 in 2011 to 103,895 in 2016, an increase of 16,125 persons. This is an increase of over 44,000 people in the last ten years. In contrast, the number of people identifying as separated has levelled off and stood at 118,178. This is up marginally from 116,194 five years earlier.

One Family CEO Karen Kiernan comments: “There has been a 1.2% increase in the number of children living in one parent families with almost 1 in 5 children in Ireland (19.5%) now living in a one-parent family. This reflects the evidence that we have from working with families, from listening to them, and understanding their lived realities. It shows that family form is not, and has never been, static. However, services and policies are very often static, and do not reflect the reality of family diversity. Families are left without the supports they need. Lack of supports to separate well, lack of anti poverty measures and lack of mediation services around the country are clear examples of this gap. Government must look at new inter-departmental approaches if it is serious about fixing this problem, and working towards a society where all families are equally cared for and enabled to contribute.”

One Family Policy & Programmes manager, Valerie Maher, comments: “As divorce in Ireland generally requires a period of separation in the first instance, up to five years, the figures reflect both a progression for people from separation to divorce, combined with more people becoming separated. A Private Members Bill reducing the mandated waiting period to initiate divorce proceedings from four years to two is being debated before the Dáil today. We launched the results of Ireland’s First National Shared Parenting Survey in January. Over 1,000 women and men told us what is needed to support them and their children. Government must listen to their voices now, and implement our policy recommendations to ensure that separating parents are supported to keep children at the centre of parenting, thus ensuring better outcomes for all members of the family.”

Census findings reflect what One Family has been saying for years: Ireland’s families come in all shapes and sizes. Further information and analysis on families will be released in June this year. It is time for Government and society to embrace this wonderful diversity.

Notes for Editors

• CSO Census findings can be accessed here.
• One Family’s report, Ireland’s First National Shared Parenting Survey: Results & Recommendations, can be accessed here.

/Ends.

About One Family

One Family was founded in 1972 as Cherish and celebrates its 45^th year in 2017. It 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 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 (www.familyday.ie).

One Family launched the results of Ireland’s first national Shared Parenting Survey. The full report can be read here.

For further information, visit www.onefamily.ie.

Available for Interview

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

Valerie Maher, Policy & Programmes Manager | t: 01 662 9212

Further Information/Scheduling

Shirley Chance, Director of Communications | t: 01 622 9212 or 087 414 8511

In 2016, One Family devised and conducted Ireland’s first national Shared Parenting Survey in response to a lack of public debate and narrative around shared parenting in modern Ireland. Over one thousand women and men who share parenting, or who have attempted to, responded.

The results have been analysed, and we are pleased to now publish a report entitled Ireland’s First National Shared Parenting Survey: Results & Recommendations which can be read or downloaded by clicking on the image on the left.

Key findings include:

• The majority of respondents whose child does not live with them most of time, spend time with their child on a weekly basis.
• While almost 27% of respondents arranged this time amicably between them, for almost 51% it was agreed with difficulty, through mediation or court ordered.
• 62% of respondents whose child lives with them most or all of the time stated that their child’s other parent contributes financially to their child’s costs; 38% stated that the other parent does not contribute financially.
• Just over 50% of respondents stated that they do not make decisions jointly on issues that impact on their child(ren).
• Over 34% of respondents have attended mediation.

One Family extends its sincere gratitude to each of the parents who took the time to share their personal experiences. This report draws directly from their survey responses and includes many of their comments. One Family believes that their honesty and openness will help to make Ireland a better place to share parenting in the future.

Press Release

On Universal Children’s Day we ask:

What is being done to lift Ireland’s poorest children out of poverty?

(Dublin, Friday 18 November 2016) One Family – Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting, and separating – celebrates UN Universal Children’s Day this Sunday, 20 of November 2016, while voicing concern on the inequality that exists in Irish society for the thousands of children living in those one-parent families which suffer the highest rates of deprivation in Ireland today. On Universal Children’s Day we must, as a society, speak for them, acknowledge them, and act for them.

One in nine (11%) children live in consistent poverty in Ireland (SILC 2014). This can mean going 24 hours without a substantial meal or being cold because parents are unable to afford to heat the home. Children living in one-parent family households are almost twice as likely to live in poverty than other children, with 23% of children in a one-parent family experiencing deprivation. Two thirds of homeless families living in emergency accommodation are one-parent families, at any time.

Karen Kiernan, One Family CEO, states: “While Universal Children’s Day is a wonderful celebration of the joy of childhood and the resilience of children, it is also a day to reflect on the inequalities children in Ireland face every day, not as a result of their family form, but as a result of the systemic barriers facing their parents. These are people parenting alone who are consistently thwarted in their attempts to create more positive futures for their families in their efforts to enter education or the workplace. We know, and research shows, that it is the education level of parents and living in consistent poverty that most impact a child’s future.”

Karen continues: “Recent ESRI research, ‘Cherish all the Children Equally?’, confirmed that children living in one-parent families are more likely to fare poorly directly as a result of living in consistent poverty. To be clear, growing up in a lone parent family structure does not create a source of inequality in a child’s life; the inequality comes from inequitable systems and attitudes towards lone parents. But is enough being done to lift Ireland’s poorest children out of poverty? No. We have yet to see a cohesive attempt to break down the barriers that one-parent families in receipt of social welfare payments still face, and nothing to acknowledge those who share parenting.”

One Family will continue to speak out on behalf of the one in five children who live in one-parent families today, and their parents. In addition to providing services and supports, and advocating on behalf of one-parent families, One Family promotes societal acknowledgment of the positivity of family diversity with its annual Family Day celebration every May. Its askonefamily helpline can be contacted on 1890 66 22 12 or 01 662 9212.

/Ends.

Notes for Editors:

• UN Universal Children’s Day  #childrensday

• Facts & Figures About One-Parent Families in Ireland
• ERSI report ‘Cherishing all the Children Equally?’ can be downloaded at this link
• TASC report on consistent poverty rates in Ireland

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 every May in 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, One Family | t: 086 850 9191

For further Information, 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

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

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

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.

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

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.