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Minister Burton considers One Family requirement for lone parents to work part-time

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Requirement for lone parents to work part-time is being seriously considered by Minister Burton

Media Release, 2 July 2012

At the launch of One Family’s Annual Review and Graduation, One Family got an opportunity to publicly critique recent cuts aimed at lone parents and Minister Burton got to hear, first hand, stories of triumph over hardship from some of the 150 lone parents who were graduating from One Family Welfare to Work Programmes.

Minister Burton announced that the requirement for lone parents to be required to work part-time, rather than full-time is being seriously considered, if they are moved off the One Parent Family Payment and onto Job Seekers Allowance when their youngest child is seven.

‘This is a positive and necessary move as it is completely unreasonable to expect lone parents to be available for full time work, particularly given the lack of provision of childcare and afterschool care in Ireland,’ says Karen Kiernan, One Family Director.

One Family also used the opportunity to re-iterate the recommendations from its Ten Solutions campaign to the Minister. Ten Solutions are all about delivering some of the supports needed to enable lone parents to have Smarter Futures – to help them out of poverty, off social assistance and into quality, sustainable jobs.  These solutions may not require a lot of money but they do require public services and policy makers to think and behave creatively so that we can deliver more appropriate and effective services.

For the full Ten Solutions see https://www.onefamily.ie/wp-content/uploads/Ten-Solutions-final.pdf

For further information or to arrange an interview with a spokesperson:

Contact Hilary Fennell, Communications Manager, One Family 087 2359515/ 01 6629212

 

Ciara Conway, TD, launches Ten Solutions campaign in Leinster House

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One Family launches its Ten Solutions for Smarter Futures for lone parents in Leinster House today

Media Release, 2 May 2012, At today’s launch of ‘One Family – Ten Solutions – Smarter Futures’ campaign, Ciara Conway, TD for Waterford and Vice Chairperson of the Oireachtas Committee on Health, Children and Youth Affairs said, ‘This campaign is a solutions focused approach to Budget 2012. It addresses ten challenges faced by lone parents, and gives us the first concrete steps to take towards delivering services which connect and empower them around education, work and independence. We acknowledge the challenges ahead but are prepared to tackle them and Minister Burton has the determination and will to succeed.’

‘Ten solutions – Smarter Futures’ outlines proposals that will enable Government to help reduce inequality and improve the wellbeing and life chances of those parenting alone. Stuart Duffin, Welfare to Work Manager at One Family, explains, ‘This goal towards a more equal State, where lone parents and their children are better equipped to succeed, has political consensus and increasing public support,’ he continues, ‘we recognise that budgets are strained, which is why we have come up with low-cost or cost-neutral solutions to improving the lives of one-parent families.’

Some of the suggestions in ‘Ten solutions – Smarter Futures’ include:

Flexibilities: lone parents who move to Jobseeker’s Allowance should only be required to work for 15 hours per week during school terms. This would help address many of the child protection concerns around seven year olds being left on their own. Flexibilities also take into account a lack of childcare or transport, having to cope with a child with a disability or with a separation or a bereavement, and so on.

Education and Training: development and promotion of a wide range of part-time, modular education and training from all public providers. A range of programmes need to start later and finish earlier to allow parents to look after their children.

Progression Opportunities: ensure equality of opportunities for lone parents in the work place. Permit One-Parent Family Payment recipients to participate in all activation programmes. Support the promotion and up-skilling of lone parents.

Stuart Duffin continues, ‘‘One Family – Ten Solutions – Smarter Futures’ helps to lay the foundations for a fairer, more equal society, by addressing some of the challenges faced by lone parents and their children. For thirty years, trickle-down economics have divided Ireland by yielding significant wealth for a few, but leaving others by the wayside. There is wide public support for a different way of organising our affairs – this is the Government’s opportunity to deliver on a undertaking that can radically change children’s lives – and to create a welfare to work system which empowers lone parents.’

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For more information contact Hilary Fennell, Communications Manager, One Family, 01 6629212