Partners of prisoners should get similar social welfare assistance as other lone parents, says report

When a parent or partner goes to prison, family relationships are strained, mental health and wellbeing are negatively impacted, and the family often loses an essential income, the Irish Penal Reform Trust said. File photo: iStock/patanasak

Social welfare assistance for lone parents when the other parent is in prison should be similar to supports for bereaved families, according to a new report.

The report, Paying the Price: The Cost and Impact of Imprisonment on Families in Ireland, is calling for measures such as the revision of eligibility rules for the One Parent Family Payment, the updating of guidelines for the payment, as well as removing the six-month waiting period for it.

The report is also recommending that kinship carers with responsibility for a child or children with a parent in prison should be able to access a guardianship payment or alternative payment without having to declare parental abandonment or end parental contact.

The research was carried out by the Think Tank for Action on Social Change (TASC), which was commissioned last December by the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) to assess the financial impact on children when family members, including parents, are imprisoned.

The research took account of social welfare, childcare, housing, transport and digital access, and included eight in-depth interviews with individuals who have lived experience of having a family member in prison.

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Executive director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust, Saoirse Brady, said: “This research lays bare the hidden cost of imprisonment for the thousands of children and families across Ireland who are serving what many described as ‘a sentence of their own’. Without co-ordinated action, these families on the outside will continue to experience poverty, stigma and exclusion."

When a parent or partner goes to prison, family relationships are strained, mental health and wellbeing are negatively impacted, and the family often loses an essential income, she said.

Lives are turned upside down. In other circumstances, when a family experiences a loss, extended family and community rally around them. However, the people we heard from told us how they were treated differently, ignored and often refused help at both a personal and an official level.

“We hope this report will serve as a call to action to better understand the impact of prison on families and result in concrete actions and practical supports for families.” 

Author of the report, Sara Singleton of TASC, said the impact of imprisonment is felt “intensely but uniquely” by affected families.

She said: “A partner losing a household income, a grandparent becoming a full-time carer, or a child trying to stay connected with their parent each faces distinct challenges. 

"Despite these differences, a clear pattern emerged. Income drops, essential costs rise, and the social and community supports families rely on often weaken or disappear. For many participants, this was the moment they moved from ‘just about managing’ into poverty.”