Counting every penny and every minute devalues parent’s role

Is ‘expanding capacity’ our only vision for society, even if it leaves a child waiting alone at the school gate, asks Victoria White

WAKEY, wakey all you single parents out there! It’s July 2 and it’s the dawn of a new era for you, about 29,999 other mammies, and a few dads too.

No more will you wallow in idleness while your slack-jawed seven-year-old sits around losing what IQ he has. No longer will your welfare payment be “passive in nature”, to quote minister of state at Department of Social Protection Kevin Humphreys, speaking in the Dáil.