The details of the phasing out of the One Parent Family Payment for single parents whose youngest child reaches 13, as opposed to the previous limit of 18 (or 22 if they remained in full time education) is, despite what Minister O’Cuiv asserts, a recipe for driving thousands of families into further poverty.
In order to justify this attack, which will save the exchequer a mere €30 million when fully implemented, the government had to paint a grossly insulting picture of work-shy single mothers who needed an economic push to force them into jobs. This in spite of the fact that 80% of single parents are in education and training.
The reality is that in the absence of state creche facilities and in an environment of mass unemployment and attacks on wages, this counter-reform is a green light for employers to cut pay, with the expectation that the Department of Social Protection will provide them with candidates forced to accept minimum wage conditions.
Furthermore, young people with aspirations to complete school and go on to third level education will find a fresh economic barrier being placed in front of them as the withdrawal of this payment for children above the age of 13 will be a source of pressure to many to seek unskilled work at an early age to help make ends meet.
The miserly saving from the exchequer from this attack has to be seen in the context of a fresh pay out of €2 billion to Anglo Irish Bank. A day does not go by when this government doesn’t provide us with a new reason to fight to drive them out of office.
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