Dr. Tricia Keilthy:

Yes because lone parents have to reach the figure of 19 hours alone, whereas a couple can reach the threshold together. There is a similar issue with the thresholds for receipt of the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance. The threshold for a one-parent family is much lower than for a two-parent family. Equalising the thresholds would allow more lone parents to access the allowance.

We do not really understand why there are two different thresholds for that because the costs are the same regardless of whether there is one or two parents in the household.