Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The latest Eurostat European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions data show that the severe material deprivation rate for lone parent households was 22.6% in Ireland in 2015. This is the second successive year the rate reduced – representing a 9.7 percentage point reduction on the 2013 rate of 32.3%. The Irish rate compares to the EU average of 17.1% in 2015 (see Table 1 attached).

The full impact of the recovery is not reflected in these figures, which relate to 2015. Macro-economic and labour market indicators have shown continued economic and employment growth since then. Unemployment has fallen from 9.4% in mid-2015 to 6.2% now. The number of people in receipt of working-age income and employment supports has also continued to fall.

With these improvements, the Government was in a position to introduce a range of welfare increases from 2016 onwards. This includes a package of measures to support lone parents, encouraging them into the workplace and into education and helping to reduce their childcare costs. In Budget 2017 all lone parents on the one-parent family payment, the jobseeker’s transitional payment and jobseeker’s allowance have benefitted from the €5 increase in the weekly rates of payment from March. A new €500 annual Cost of Education Allowance will be made available to Back to Education Allowance participants with children from the next academic year in September. In addition, the income disregards for the one-parent family payment and the jobseeker’s transitional payment increased by €20 from January, from €90 to €110 per week, reversing in part previous reductions, to encourage one parent families to stay in, and return to, work.

The Department of Social Protection’s social impact assessment of Budget 2017 showed that average household incomes increase by 1%. Non-earning lone parents were the biggest beneficiary of Budget 2017 with gains of 4.5%. Working lone parents also experienced above average gains at almost 1.2%.

The improvement in the economy, together with the welfare measures referred to, are likely to have supported a further reduction in severe material deprivation in the period since 2015. This improvement is expected to continue with further rises in incomes and living standards.

Table 1: Severe Material Deprivation rate in lone parent households 2010 to 2015

Source: Eurostat EU-SILC, various years. Extracted 17/05/2017.