Spike in helpline calls over ‘catastrophic’ lone parent cuts

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

The One Family organisation said it had received 2,000 calls so far this year with most concerning controversial changes to payments. Reforms pushed through by Social Protection Minister Joan Burton meant that one-parent family allowance was withdrawn with recipients moved to other allowances.

Opposition parties warned this was costing some lone parents up to €90 a week, but Ms Burton said the changes would “activate” people to work and education.

One Family warned that the changes had been “catastrophic” with families experiencing “huge” cuts in their incomes. Its chief executive Karen Kiernan said the ending of the payment when a child reached seven had a damaging impact on families.

“The uncertainty and confusion around implementation of this reform process, and fear over its impacts, have contributed hugely to the increase in calls to our helpline. Our evidence shows vulnerable one-parent families are being hit very hard. Those who are already working part-time are telling us of the catastrophic affects on their families as they experience huge cuts in income.

“The priority must be to work effectively to end child poverty and improve outcomes for one-parent families. Government still has the opportunity to implement policies that can achieve this.” she said.

She said the Government must invest in Budget 2016 in a “coherent package of supports and services for parents moved off the one-parent family payment and onto jobseeker’s allowances if it is sincere about wanting to support people who parent on their own into sustainable employment”.

“The Government must also stop using atypical examples to demonstrate the so-called ‘success’ of these policies and listen to what real one-parent families, who have lost up to €110 per week from already tight budgets, are saying,” Ms Kiernan said.

The Department of Social Protection said the overwhelming majority of lone parents who moved out of the scheme had no income loss or actually gained as a result of the changes.