Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department provides a number of in-work supports for families with children such as the Working Family Payment and the Back to Work Family Dividend.

The Back to Work Family Dividend is a weekly payment to help people with children move from social welfare into employment. The scheme provides up to two years of financial support, for persons with qualified children, who are in or take up employment or self-employment and who cease claiming one of the following payments: Jobseeker's Allowance, Jobseeker's Benefit, or Jobseeker's Benefit (Self-Employed) after a specified period, the One-Parent Family Payment or the Jobseeker's Transitional Payment.

As of May 2023, there was approximately 2,593 families with 5,345 children in receipt of the payment. While the estimated expenditure on the scheme in 2023 is €11.88 million.

In line with Commitment 78 of the Government’s national employment strategy, Pathways to Work 2021-2025, which commits to "Implement, with the support of the Labour Market Advisory Council, a formal analysis of programme impacts", a request for tender for the provision of an evaluation of the Back to Work Family Dividend was published on the 22nd of June 2023.

Prior to publishing the request for tender, the Department sought input from the Labour Market Advisory Council sub-group on Evaluations. The assessment will use a wide range of administrative data sources in the analysis and will seek to establish if a causal link exists between receipt of the Back to Work Family Dividend and subsequent outcomes, comparing outcomes of persons who were in receipt of the payment and those of persons who while eligible, did not avail of the payment. Following completion of the tender process and contract award it is expected that the analysis will commence in September and will take nine months to complete.

I am very conscious of the importance of ensuring that people are aware of and take-up the payments for which they are eligible. I look forward to receiving the findings of the analysis of Back to Work Family Dividend, which will be used to shape the future design of the scheme and other future in-employment supports.