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11/11/2016

Ireland's Single Parent Families 'Struggling Since Budget 2017'

Kathleen Funchion, Sinn Féin spokesperson on Childcare, has said that single parent families, and around 2,400 children, are continuing to struggle following the announcements made in Ireland's Budget 2017.

Deputy Funchion said: "Sinn Féin advocated for an equality proofed Budget and that was reflected in the proposals we made in our Alternative Budget 2017.

"While the Budget announced in October had a few tokenistic gestures included, it did very little to tackle head on the status quo of our state's ongoing crises.

"The increase to the One Parent Family Payment for lone parents from €90 to €110 from January 2017 is welcome, but the overall negative impact of Budget 2017 on lone parents, many of whom are on the poverty line, must be acknowledged."

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She continued: "We know that lone parent families are the poorest in this state. We also know that the consistent poverty rate is 7.9% for children in two-parent families but rises to almost three times higher at 22.1% for children in one-parent families.

"These children and families are in particular need of assistance. We in Sinn Féin proposed to raise the cut off age of the One Parent Family Payment to 12 years and increase the Earnings Disregard to €120.

"Government, while increasing the payment to €110, kept the cut off age at seven years of age which completely ignores the barriers faced by lone parents trying to access work.

"The decision also refuses to acknowledge that any 10, 11, and 12 year old child, as any parent will know, is no less a child than a seven-year-old. If anything, the cost to provide for a child rises as the child grows in age."

"We have been told by child advocates and agencies that Budget 2017 won't make much of a dent in the atrociously high child poverty figures and were particularly disappointed by the education budget decisions which will do little to help struggling families," she concluded.

(JP/LM)

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"Kathleen Funchion, Sinn Féin spokesperson on Childcare, has said that single parent families, and around 2,400 children, are continuing to struggle following the announcements made in Ireland's Budge