No mention of child protection in budget statements a concern

Concern over “catastrophic” changes to lone-parent benefits has seen a 50% rise in calls to a helpline, a support group has revealed.

Government choices are pushing thousands of children and parents from one-parent families into poverty in Ireland, according to OneFamily.

Social Protection Minister Joan Burton has been urged to hold back on cutting the main support payment to lone parents amid warnings that it could push many people into poverty.

Unlike fairytale stepmothers, their real-life equivalents tend to be more harassed than hazardous, writes Áilín Quinlan.

Fears that divorce would lead to the end of family life in Ireland have proven unfounded, according to One Family, the organisation that supports people parenting alone, sharing parenting, and separating.

Single-parent families are being effectively pushed out of work and into long-term poverty traps due to poorly thought-out Government policies on low-paid salaries, out-of-school care and housing costs.

The Government was accused of adding to the pain of 9,000 struggling one-parent families by cutting a state benefit payment.

Children are being forced to stay in “unsafe” contact with parents suspected of child abuse and domestic violence because there is no system for family courts to adequately assess the concerns.

Children do not fare any worse in life if their parents are unmarried — their outcomes are much more influenced by their mother’s educational and employment background.

Separated parents who share the care and financial responsibility for their children will no longer both be able to avail, from January next, of a €1,650 tax credit.

Disputes between estranged spouses frequently turn into a “war over children”, inflicting “terrible damage” on them, Justice Minister Alan Shatter has said.

ONE FAMILY (formerly Cherish) celebrates its 40th anniversary this week.

A new service for children, whose parents are separated and who cannot agree on arrangements for the child, has been launched in Dublin.

Struggling single parents will see their income slashed by €1,000 a year as financial supports are axed in the coming days.

Single parents struggling to hold down a job and look after their children have been told that support payments for their children will be cut by €30 per child.

A group representing lone parents has said protest marches are likely to continue in opposition to Budget measures which come into effect from today.

DRACONIAN health charges being considered by the Government will cost lives, a prominent patient advocate has warned.

DNA testing should be used to track runaway dads who dodge financial responsibilities for their offspring, a noted academic has said.

A SUPPORT organisation for one-parent families has blamed the recession for a large increase in calls to its helpline from separating couples last year.

SINGLE-PARENT families should be afforded the same respect and value as two-parent families under the constitution, the One Family group has urged.

It is unacceptable for the rights of parents and children to be determined by whether or not they live in a traditional married family unit, a lone parents’ support group said today.

THE number of single parent families seeking help from the One Family support group increased by over 100% last year.

PRESSURE was mounting on the Irish Times last night to apologise for columnist Kevin Myers’s controversial description of single parents as “mothers of bastards”.

A support group for single parents has called for changes in the law and the Constitution to protect the rights of children living in one-parent families.

GARDAÍ looking for the mother of a newborn baby found dead on a beach on Sunday told her: "You have nothing to fear."