One Parent Family Payment cuts ‘push single parents deeper into poverty’

Changes to the One Parent Family Payment come into effect today, in a move Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams claims "ignores the valuable social and economic role that lone parents make in raising their children." As of today, single parents who are in receipt of social welfare will be required to look for work or training once their child turns seven. According to the Department of Social Protection, parents who increase their part-time working hours to 19 will fare better under the new rules. Speaking in the Dáil last night, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams called on the Government to reverse the changes and said thousands of lone parents and children are about to be pushed further into poverty.

"There are an estimated 12,000 families, including many in my own constituency of Louth, who now face significant cuts of up to €86 per week," he said. "Many will be deeply affected by the cut to this allowance."

According to One Family, Ireland's national organisation for one-parent families, the reform 'does not address the lived realities and challenges that can be associated with parenting alone'. Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, spokesperson Stuart Duffin said:

"Many lone parents are working but they're working 15 to 16 hours a week, which means they do not have access to Family Income Supplement. "In addition to that when they were on the One-Parent Family Payment they had an income disregard of €90 a week - the amount of money they could earn before it impacted on their benefit - that is going to be slashed by 30%."

Back in the Dáil, Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh also pointed out that the promised childcare structure was not in place to support the reform, while TD Colm Keaveney took to Twitter to describe the decision as "Orwellian". There are over 215,000 one-parent families in Ireland today – 25.8 per cent of all families with children. People in lone parent households tend to have the lowest disposable income out of all households in the state and continue to experience the highest rates of deprivation.