Parents of young children facing double-whammy

PARENTS of young children face a double-whammy from January 1 as they lose the Early Childcare Supplement on top of the cuts to Child Benefit announced in this week’s budget.

As a result, a family with one child under five years of age will be €690 worse off. A family with two children under that age will lose €1,380.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan made no mention of Early Childcare Supplement in his speech on Wednesday because the decision to abolish it had been announced in last April’s supplementary Budget. The payment is to assist families with childcare costs.

When it was introduced in 2006, it involved a payment of €1,000 a year for every child under six.

But in last year’s Budget, with State finances under pressure, Mr Lenihan announced it would cease at five years of age.

He went a massive step further in the supplementary Budget in April, announcing it would be halved for the rest of this year and abolished completely at the end of December.

It will be replaced in January with a free pre-school year of “Early Childhood Care and Education” for all children between the ages of three and a quarter and four and a half.

But the abolition of the supplement means a family will lose a direct payment of €41.50 a month for every child under five.

This is on top of the cuts of €16 a month to Child Benefit announced in Wednesday’s Budget by Mr Lenihan.

Child Benefit (previously known as Children’s Allowance) is payable to the parents of children under 16, or under 19 if the child is in full-time education or has a disability.

The abolition of the Early Childcare Supplement and the cut to Child Benefit means a family with one child will be €690 worse off next year – losing €41.50 a month on the former and €16 a month on the latter.