One-parent Families in Ireland:

Separating Fact from Fiction

- Lone parents are everywhere, and they are a completely urban and
working class phenomenon

The fastest growing family type in Ireland is headed by opposite sex

co-habiting couples; Just 18% of all families in Ireland are headed by
a lone parent (189,213 families); Half live in the urban centres of Dublin
(35%), Cork (10%) and Limerick (5%); lone parents are members
of every social class in Ireland today.

- They make a conscious lifestyle choice to parent alone

The routes into lone parenthood are varied: marital and relationship
breakdown; crisis pregnancy; death; and imprisonment are all
potential causes. In a recent study 59% of lone mothers reported
that while pregnant, they had been living with or married to their
child’s father.

- They are all unemployed young women

Dads make up 14% of lone parents; Less than 2% of lone parents on

social welfare are aged under 20; 40% are between 20 and 29 years old;
one-third are between 30 and 39 years of age; Just under half of all
lone parents are on a weekly social welfare payment and 6 in every 10
of those claiming social welfare are also working.

- They get everything, they live on the pig’s back, making money at the
expense of the hard-pressed tax payer

A lone parent on the One-parent Family Payment receives €196 per week
plus €29.80 per child; a monthly child benefit of €150 per child is also
paid to all families, regardless of status. The latest poverty figures
show that nearly one in five people in lone parent households
(17.8%) were in consistent poverty in 2008, the highest rate
recorded among household types; Lone parent households reported
the highest deprivation levels of any household type with nearly one
quarter (24.2%) of individuals in these households experiencing three
or more of the eleven deprivation items in 2008.

- They deliberately have loads of children to get more, like houses and
more benefits

One-parent families are smaller than other families: 6 of every 10

one-parent families have just one child; 1 quarter of one-parent
families have 2 children; Twice as many couples (30%) as lone
OPEN parents (15%) have families of 3 or more children.
7 Red Cow Lane
Smithfield There are 16,795 one-parent families on the waiting list for social
Dublin 7 housing, equivalent to almost 4 in every 10 households (38%) in need of
T: (01) 814 8860 accommodation; 94% of these are lone mothers; Lone parents
F: (01) 814 8890 Have fewer children than couples on the housing list: 7 in every 10
E: enquiries@oneparent.ie lone parents have just one child; 2 in every 10 lone parents have
www.oneparent.ie two children; One-parent families spend longer on the waiting list
than other household types.
 Real Families, Real Change
Mary lives in a rural area.

“My son came home from school really excited because he had been picked
to represent his county in the Community Games. I burst into tears and was
still crying when I met my sister. ‘You must be very proud,’ she said. ‘I am’,
I replied, ‘but that’s not what I’m crying about – I’m crying because I know
it will cost me money, somehow, and I can’t afford it’.”

Joe lives in the city with two children.

“As a lone father with two small school going kids you couldn't work full time
– you had to fit in around school time and childcare. I told everyone I work
‘banker's hours’ – no work before 10 or after 2.30 – who's going to collect
your kids? People looked at you as if you had 10 heads if you turned down
work…. but the chunk of money you had to hand over for childcare meant it
wasn't worth it”

Joanne lives in the city with two children aged 1 and 3.

“I left my mother’s because of overcrowding – 4 adults and one school

going child, not counting me and my two kids – I had 75 points when I left
and went to private rented. I am 4 years on the Local Authority List this
October – my ma left me on her rent and when they found out they cut me
off and took all my points. Now I have to start again. The rent is €1,300 per
month and I get €1,017 off the welfare. I still pay €283 a month and my
book is €220 – do the math’s for yourself. I like where I am but you can't do
anything – I can't give me daughter the Barbie room she wants. Private
rented is no place to bring up a family – I want the security of our own home
and my kids to live near their granny”

OPEN is the national network of one-parent families. Our membership

is made up of community based groups which provide a range of supports
and services to almost 15,000 one-parent families throughout Ireland. OPEN
supports member groups and other groups working with lone parents, to
develop appropriate responses to the real needs of their families. We
achieve this through the provision of education, training and development
programmes; and by seeking to influence policy development.

______________________________________

The sources for all of the facts on this sheet are: CSO: Census 2006; CSO: Survey on Income
and Living Conditions 2008 - List of 11 deprivation indicators: 1. Without heating at some stage
in the last year; 2. Unable to afford a morning, afternoon or evening out in the last fortnight; 3.
Unable to afford two pairs of strong shoes; 4. Unable to afford a roast once a week; 5. Unable
to afford a meal with meat, chicken or fish every second day; 6. Unable to afford new (not sec-
ond-hand) clothes; 7. Unable to afford a warm waterproof coat; 8. Unable to afford to keep the
home adequately warm; 9. Unable to afford to replace any worn out furniture; 10. Unable to
afford to have family or friends for a drink or meal once a month; 11. Unable to afford to buy
presents for family or friends at least once a year; Growing Up Ireland: National Longitudinal
Study of Children, 2009; Department of Environment,
Heritage & Local Government: Assessment of Housing Need