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POLITICIANS AND TRADE UNIONS joined single parents as they took to the streets today to protest against what they see as discriminatory cuts put in place by the 2012 Budget.
The S.P.A.R.K. campaign – Single Parents Acting for the Rights of Kids – includes organisations such as OPEN, One Parent, and Treoir.
They marched in protest at cuts to single parents’ allowances, the reduction in entitlement ages, changes to university employment schemes, cuts to college grants and increased registration fees, and cuts to the back-t0-school clothing and footwear allowances.
Single parents have also been hit by school transport contributions, the household charge, cuts to fuel allowances, cuts to subvention rates for creches, restrictions on the JobBridge scheme, charges for FÁS courses and cuts to rent supplements.
Today’s demonstration was also joined by TDs from Sinn Féin and the United Left Alliance, and officials and members from SIPTU.
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Reduction of entitlement age to 7 is in line with most other OECD countries.
What is missing in the Govt reform of this area is a requirement to ensure fathers financially contribute, ideally along the lines of the New Zealand system where to claim lone parent allowance a mother must name the father, and the father must contribute from his wages or welfare
some support needs to be in place for the kids too eg affordable childcare to level the playing field. also single parents include single dads too. Sometimes to implement equality some extra support is needed but I do agree the other parent needs to contribute.
There are a lot of married fathers not contributing towards their kids, I know one person who was suppose to give his ex wife money towards Xmas and he did not give her a penny for their 5 kids, I know a couple of women who did the same
My kids fathers pays maintenance through the courts, is named on the birth cert also! How dare you assume that just because we are Single Parents, we do not have the fathers name on the birth cert. And do you know how much my children are worth in the eyes of the court system?? 6.66 a week each!!!
Reduction of the age to 7 is all well and fine if the childcare supports are in place, which in Ireland are severely lacking. Also working part-time is actively encouraged in these countries as it gives a good working/home life balance. But Joan Burton is saying we must do full-time work or no work!
Most other OECD countries have affordable childcare structures in place. Lone parents do have to pursue the Fathers for maintenance before they can receive their lone parents allowance. The fathers contribution up to e95 is taken euro for euro. Even with fathers contributing children are not lifted out of poverty. Just because other countries stipulate that lone parents must return to work does not mean it is right. What has been lost in this debate is the recognition that there is value on a Mother staying home with her child and perhaps working part time. A parents responsibility toward their child is not only financial. We cannot balance the book at the expense of a childs emotional welfare- a child that is already being raised in a one parent family.
Kiakra you have basically hit the nail, childcare is a very expensive thing in Ireland and its not expensive in other European country’s, France where my brother lives with his partner and their 2 young kids love the fact that they get subsidised childcare, over here it’s a different attitude
Not too easy if you victim of rape or widow
To claim OPF (One Parent Family) payment you have to show that you are receiving or have made ever effort to receive maintenance from the “Absent Parent”.
I find the comments above referring to the need for reform to ensure “Fathers” are paying their way are very narrow minded and very insulting, as a “Father who is a Loan Parent”.
Its not just single parents that are getting hit here. We all are.
TOO TRUE. Maybe a national protest would be good.
It is harder for a single parent to work their way out of poverty (even if there were jobs) with the abysmal number of affordable child care places available. They were hit extra hard.
A government that takes from children 90,000, of whom live in constant poverty yet sees no shame in paying themselves €3500 laundry allowance tax free.
best of luck to them. Its shameful of the government to hit those who can least afford it.
Why is government always first port if call , if common sense prevailed , legally there should be no such thing as a single parent, all biological fathers should be at the very least financially responsible for their children , make naming them on birth certs mandatory . Too many dead beat Dads walking away from their parental and civil responsibilities , but then again responsibility is a dirty word in this country
The majority have the fathers down in the birthcert, in order for the name to be on birthcert the father must be present at the time of registration
Well done 2 all who protested today that’s what we need in this Country everyone 2 get out and Protest and let this bloody Government see we won’t take all this crap also love Mary Lou Mc Donald she speaks out 4 de underdog fair play 2 her only one speaks a bit of sense
a review of childcare and after school care is overdue, how can the government expect people to get back to work when things like half days, in service days and holidays are crippling all working parents. there is only so many holidays, time in lieu you can build up to cover these, we need someone who has the sense to look at the chain of consequence when making these sweeping changes.
completely agree with you. its so hard to find work as a single parent and be able to pay for childcare. finding an understanding employer willing to put up with you taking days off everytime the schools are off is next to impossible plus some of the jobs that are out there at the moment involve shift work which of course means unless you have family/friends willing to help case for the children you couldn’t possibly take those jobs (which obviously is not the governments fault Im just trying to help people understand what the reality is for a single parent) single parents really do depend on these benefits not because they are lazy or happy to sit at home all day but because they cannot survive without it…
I agree, my child is 6 and his school starts at 9.30, teachers arrive at 9.15 to supervise the children to ensure they don’t leave the grounds. None of the Childcare facilities in my area offer a service to drop children to school only to collect from school. The school hours in our country should be reformed and taken out of the dark ages.
I also want the government (ie yous lot who are earning) to pay for the lifestyle I feel myself entitled to
As it stood when my child was born the father had to be present at the registration of her birth to be put on the birth certificate. My ex had moved to England and changed his phone number in the middle of my pregnancy probably to make sure that he couldn’t be put on her birth cert thus no claim could be made on him for any kind of child support as the social welfare in this country do not go after absent fathers who have left the state. So In my case like a lot of other single parents (mothers/fathers) the decision was taken out of my hands
same here
Colm you odviously don’t have a clue what you are talking about.
There is no such thing as affordable childcare in Ireland, people may go on but comparing Ireland to country’s like France Germany or to be honest any other European state is like comparing your local shop to a supermarket, The early childcare allowance was a excuse they could have used that money to invest in a childcare system
I’m a childcare manager and when our second child came along it was more financially viable for my wife to work part time than full daycare for my two boys. I’m sure there’s irony there somewhere. There is a grant available through some community childcare centres called subvention that can save lower income families up to €100 off the cost of childcare.
yes there is mick, and there is more help in areas that are socalled deprived areas( yet the cost of living is far lower, make sense of that)here in west cork, there is only ONE place that uses the subvention, others cannot be bothered with the paperwork, and as there are also a lot of people in this area with money , they treat us differently, sad but true,
If childcare were tax deductable, wouldn’t everyone win? More justification for cuts, more business for the industry, easier for parents to work, more money in circulation……everyone wins, right? Or am I missing something?
(except for frauds who just want to sponge off the system, but there can’t be that many of them and if there are – ah well)
I can never understand why more community centers don’t sign up for it. Its a great scheme to have for families. the benefit out weighs the paper work.
i agree mick,i am from wales originally so know full well how free childcare(or cheaper) is beneficial, even school here costs fortune:(,
Its Lone Parent, not Single Parent by the way. It’s about time these twisted begrudgers realised that only a proportion are teenage girls who got pregnant. There are many people who are divorced, separated, and widowed who do not come into the scrounging teenager bracket. I for one am working and get a partial payment to help me with child care payments so that its actually worth going to work. I don’t qualify for any other freebies. I’m no different from the person who’ll only work 3 days a week cos the govt will make up the rest, or the person doing nixers, etc.. it is a hard enough to find a job these days, never mind one that fits a lone parents time slots so that their kids aren’t left stranded at school or having to walk long distances home, feeding themselves or hanging around the streets cos their parent is working. Joan Burton is setting up for a future of under privileged young adults who will get back in some form the money she is taking away today. Nobody chooses a lifestyle of difficulty, it is thrust upon them .
addendum to my teenage girl comment: What I meant by that stems from comments made in the past which gave the impression that lone parents were teenagers who chose to live on the handouts of the state and that it was seen as a lifestyle choice. My apologies if I offended anyone, that was not my intention. It was more to point out that it may be the source of some peoples aggravation at the lone parent payment being given if this was the case.
One-Parent Families are 10 times more likely to find themselves living in consistent poverty then any other household, including 2 parent families and single people. So why all the cuts to a group who are all ready recognised to be at a financial disadvantage? And with no other incentives\programmes put in place to tackle the effects of the recent cuts, how do people claw their way out of the poverty trap? Its not a question of pure monetary issues anymore ,we all know we have to live on less money, but those being cut need to see that the government is evenly distributing the pain of the cuts, which in my view they are not. The integrity and morals of the government are non existent, we have an illegitimate system and illegitimate rulers and we need to change it. Viva la revolution!!
Why are you marching? Theres a culture in this country of people expecting things for nothing, go out and work for the things you want.
If you can’t afford to have kids then don’t have any, why on earth should you get handouts just because you had a kid?
It’s the same with anything in life, if you can’t afford it, don’t do it.
That has to be the most inane comment I’ve read so far and to see it come from “common sense” makes it all the more ironic. People in this country seem to think young girls go out and get pregnant just for the “money”. It’s a complete and utter disgrace that people think that. Who in their right mind would go through 9 months of pregnancy, the labour, the sleepless nights, the responsibility and burden of looking after a child on their own, giving up their freedom etc for to standard payment of €188 for themselves plus an additional €24.80 for their child. Yes, the government financial advisors think you can feed, clothe, buy nappies etc for €24.80. Who, please tell me, who in their right mind would choose this lifestyle? Oh, you get a house. Yes, you may qualify for social housing but you still must pay rent. Which is roughly €30 per week. So out of €204 take rent and bills per week out of it and you are left with maybe €120 pw to look after yourself and feed and clothe and get all the things your child needs. And this is a lifestyle choice? To rear your child in poverty?? Get a grip on reality!!
You cannot force a man to stay in a relationship just because you have had a child. You both may have been working, you both may have thought “yes, we’re doing ok – lets have a child now” and then a few years down the road jobs may be lost, relationships may break down and the woman (or man) finds themselves a lone parent. What do they do with the children that they planned and wanted because their circumstances and relationship has changed? Do they give them back? Because now they can’t afford them? The cost of childcare in this country is horrendous. The “free school year” is not what it seems. You get your child looked after from 9.30 – 12.30 Monday to Friday. Term time only. Which means when the main schools are on holidays, your child is not looked after. Most jobs start at 9. So you must arrange someone to leave your child to creche. And pay for them to be looked after from 12.30 onwards 5 days a week. Which is still 5 hours per day. Let’s say for arguements sake creches charge €5 per hour. Thats still €125 per week if you work full time. Which is quite a substantial chunk out of your minimum wage jobs pay. If you are lucky enough to find a full time job in the first place. It is hard being a lone parent. It’s all well and good saying go after the father but the courts award maintenance based on his circumstances too. So unless your ex is lucky enough to be in a well paid job what you are awarded is a pittance. It makes me angry that people think women choose this life for their children. Women want the best for their children and will do whatever it takes to make sure they’re looked after. Not have them just to get a few quid.
It would be worth doing for a free gaff and all the extras.
Ok, clever one…. If they will not afford childrens now, you will not afford to have a pensions when you will get old. Whuo do you think will pay taxes for your pension? Those kids who are growing now!
Go live a day as a struggling single parent and come back then with your daft comments. Thats the problem with our society today – far, far too quick to make their own assumptions and too quick to judge. A free gaff and all the extras? You are living in a fantasy world if you think women make the orchestrated choice to be a single parents for some monetary gain. And as for your freeloaders comment below? That is just the attitude from people who read what is written in the media and jump to their stupid conclusions. People like you see “lone parent” and automatically assume that they are unemployed and spouting out children to get more money. The majority of lone parents are in some form of employment therefore pay their taxes just like the rest of society. Yet you and people like you are too narrow minded to see that.
well said Fiona, single parents do not choose to be on their own maybe a small percentage do but I would say that they are only a small percentage. One thing I would like to add to this, for me as a single mother (not by choice) getting the job is not a major issue, but it is the type or quality of job I will get, I am the third generation of single parents (before people make any judgements here my grandmother was raped on my mother and my mother was then raised in an industrial school and life has not been easy for her and due to this our family have found ourselves in this situation three generations later) and know all to well what it is like to live in poverty and not to have a good quality of life I do not want that for my kids so I have educated myself to the level of an ordinary degree (which the government didn’t help to pay for as it was part time) but it is not enough if I want to be able to send my kids to college (as I can not rely on this government to educate my children properly due to the proposed cuts to DEIS schools which both my children are in) and give them a good quality of life so they do not need to depend on the welfare system, so I need to get at least a masters for that dream to become a reality I have two options part time or full time college. If I choose part time I will only get one year of my masters done as they plan to take away my one parent family in the next two years because my youngest will be nine then and I can not go full time as I have no supports in relation to childcare and even if I did the government have also cut any grants that I would be entitled to. My argument here is give single parents the resources to either complete a good level of education so they are able to get a good sustainable job or be able to climb the career ladder so next generation do not need to rely on welfare.
Because sometimes things change if I had of know what kind of relationship I was going to be in (mentally & physically abusive) I would have ran a mile but in my case it’s due to what he learnt as a child his father is a tirrant who mentally tortures his mother, my kids are not being brought up in an environment like that and also in the courts it’s an expensive thing protection orders or safety orders along with maintenance orders can run in to thousands esp crappy when you know some one has cash in hand earning and you cannot prove it which my married friend has at the moment she cannot get any money off her ex husband for their 5 kids
While fully understanding the presence of politicians at the march today I am puzzled as to the presence of a Trade Union and specifically SIPTU. Is this the Union that had the mysterious bank account with millions of Euro supplied by the State for the recreational use of overworked officials.
I thought the purpose of Trade Unions was to look after the interests of It’s members in employment matters.
Now it looks as if SIPTU wishes to behave as a Political Party itself. With the economic pressure on all employees should their Union be using their members contributions for these purposes no matter how laudable the issue?
Mark, are all One-Parent families solely living on social welfare? Many are in employment, hence the involvement of the trade unions on behalf of their members.
Mark SIPTU were there today to support us in SPARK as many Lone Parents use CE Schemes to return to the workplace and the SITPTU community were there to represent CE workers. The Ce Scheme is being cut back severely and now Lone Parents are being offered 20pw to go on one without childcare support. That is why SIPTU were there.
65% of Lone Parents work and so therefore are likely to be in a union like SIPTU. The community section of SIPTU have been superb in their support of us as have Richard Boyd-Bartlett, Aeongus SF and Mary-Lou McDonald. Along with other TD’s who couldn’t make it today.
Folks, *please*: don’t ruin your good comments by including a personal insult in there. Remember the terms of the comments policy, which is linked at the foot of the page.
I understand that there are mothers who are parenting due to the death of their spouse. However, I believe they are in the minority. Realistically, the numbers of women who require benefits are women who are not supported (financially and through active involvement) by the co-parent. My questions are why aren’t men, in this country, made to be responsible for their children? And why do women accept the lack of support from the father?
Colm is a Decent Insightful Caring Kind of a man. Who may or may not resemble the part of the anatomy that the first capital letter of each of those words spells out when put in a line??? Who knows I’m sure any woman who’s had the pleasure of knowing him does!
I went to the protest to support the single parents, as they are vulnerable with the likes of Joan burton, how the he’ll do they expect them to go out to work, when they cannot find a job or who will take care of their children while they are at work” as the Minister for education has cut back on daycare centres and education, single mums need support and to be able to provide and take safe care of their children, Joan burton is a bloody disgrace victimising single parents and other carers, but some ignorant people wouldn’t understand this, as somebody had said what happened if the female person was raped by a male, and they didn’t want to abort the child, I admire them for taking good care of their children, it’s hard work being a mum and a absent dad that maybe walks out on them before the child is born in some cases this has happened, and sometimes maybe the male might have a violent past which caused the child’s mother to protect her child from harm by that person, so please if anyone wants to make cruel comments” I suggest that they think again” and be more supportive” as I find some male comments offensive towards single parents” it is not easy for mums bringing up children on their own” Rita Cahill
not all lone parents get free housing etc… when i had my first child over 8years ago i had a good job and a partner. ye certainly were in the position to afford children and remained this way for many years. i have never had to rely on benefits up until recently. but now i am a lone parent i have a mortgage to pay by myself even though my ex partners name is still on the deeds (no possibility of even getting his name off it) so i cannot even apply for many benefits i so desperately need right now because they take his earnings into account weather he contributes to the mortgage or not. i went through the courts system to get maintenance for my 2 children he was ordered to pay only 35 euro per week which i got for about a year and i have not received one penny since march last year. i am still waiting to go back to court to try get maintenance payments once again. i am not a free loader and never have been. i find it very hard not working and struggle to get by. i once had it all (partner, great job, house, car etc) now i am barley keeping my head above water so saying that all lone parents should not of had children is just plain ignorant everybody has come to be a lone parent for different reasons and most do not want to be in this situation.
At the end of the day it is the kids who will suffer and there will be a noticeable increase in ‘latchkey’ kids again. All well and good for whigehole Burton to implore parents to go back to work but has she the 200+ quid a week to pay childcare. Is she going to pay the parents if they have to take a sick day if their kids are sick? Is she going to expalin to the kids, sorry your mammy/daddy has to go to work and if they don’t Im taking money/food out of your mouths. Yes we all know Ireland paid over the odds with allowances etc but why aren’t doctor’s free up until age 16 when they can apply for their own medical card. Bring back the book scheme in schools and why not run after school care in the schools like they do in the UK.. Plenty of people want to work. Plenty of people don’t want to be claiming SW. I work p/t, my husband is on one of those ‘Internships’ which is him basically working 40hrs a week for an extra 50€. It’s not alot of money but I’d rather him with an active mind then sitting here worrying and getting more and more depressed. So wake up Joan, it’s the kids who are suffering here and as for your ‘incentives’ for getting people back into the job market-don’t make me laugh!
Hold on you can let him generalize about all of us being scroungers but we can’t call it as it is. His comment should be takin down as its really quiet hurtful.
Obvious troll is obvious. Just please don’t be profane in your comments.
I thought it was a fair point, but clearly the responses show there are no scroungers here.
Please don’t misunderstand my views on this matter. Whether single parents are employed or unemployed is not relevant to my charge that Trade Union leaders have been too cosy in their relations with Government over the past ten years and have lost the run of themselves.
Huge salaries and other Income from State disbursements or Directors fees render them somewhat neutered in fighting for any cause directly or indirectly within their spheres of responsibility.
It’s a rare occasion that I find myself in agreement with you Mark. I have to admit that you have a point. My question is, what has happened to the nearly half a billion euros, that has been collected by SIPTU over the last decade?. Where is the loot Jack?.
Sorry I mean colm you really have your finger on the pulse. Well said !!!!
Like Mick told on the top of disussions “Its shameful of the government to hit those who can least afford it.”
Why not to put tax to people who can afford it? instead of taking loaf of bread from the childrens mouth.
If government will not supporting families and childrens, after some hundreds years they will have no people. Or probably it is a government goal?
Yay, right on dude!
We are not all freeloaders. I am in my final months of an honours degree as a social care worker. I was working part time when my son was two months old! When he was one I went full time. When there was cutback and my hours were reduced I decided to go back to college. I wasn’t eligible for a grant because I lived at home but I was entitled to the lone parents payment. I have had to cut back on all my hours of work because I have to do full time work placement (unpaid) and I depend on the lone parents because my working hours are unstable (because of cut backs). A masters is out of the question (I have a 2:1 to qualify) because I now have a limit on my working wage of 130 so I cannot save, and I am not eligible for a grant because I live at home with my parents. The masters is 11,000. If I was to give up lone parents and work more hours I would be gone 7 days a week! We are not freeloaders or lazy. I have brought up my son alone, I have worked, and done a degree. Other lone parents won’t be as lucky as I have been now because of these cuts. Bringing up a child is tough, and working and doing a full time degree together has been extremely hard. Some of you are so shallow minded and refuse to keep an open mind. I did not set out to be a single mother, but it has happened! If I listened to your negative comments and digested them I would probably be at home, depressed!
You decided to have kids, you support them, why would you expect anyone else to?
Tell that to my newly single friend who was married with 5 kids and was harassed out of her and her kids home by her womanising abusive husband, you simply do not have a clue
@The One & Only – if she made the difficult decision to have FIVE kids then she is obviously wealthy with enough money to support such a big commitment, she should have nothing to worry about. Unless she knowingly decided to introduce FIVE new babies into a world of poverty, in which case she is selfish.
Christ get a life what do you want her to do stay in an abusive relationship with a man who can’t control where he puts his dick, live in the real world and it’s not Like years ago when you put up and shut up, kids deserve a better life
The One & Only – judging from the experience of your friends (that you seem very happy to relate) here and on the abortion thread it’s beginning to seem like being friends with you is bad luck
which is why we should all be out on the streets protesting. not just lone parents. people from all groups and social backgrounds have been screwed and it’s well overdue that we all say, enough is enough.
I don’t expect the kids of tomorrow to fund my retirement, that’s a ludicrous thing to say. I don’t expect handouts from anyone. I’ll fund my own retirement by working hard and preparing for it now, why should I expect other people to pay my way in any stage of my life?
Its shocking the attitude of so many here… *I’m so special, I had sex and got pregnant, now give me some free money*.
But that’s the reality or do you not know about economics ? My kids pay for your retirement through their taxes
so are you saying that just say you got to the age of say 55 and suddenly became unable to work due to a disability you would not look to the state for allowances and benefits because you are unable to gain employment? it is not possible for some loan parents to work because of reasons beyond their control. i think you are missing the point, they did not protest because they want free hand outs they protested because they want to work and initially will require assistance from the state to do so. they have paid their taxes just like everybody else and want to work and get themselves out of poverty. nobody chooses to bring a child up in poverty. you have a very twisted view and seem to direct all your comments at women when men are also responsible for creating a child and having a baby is mostly a decision made by two people…
It is your attitude that is truly shocking. You seem to be living your life with the blinkered view that you grow up, get a job, get married, have children and live happily ever after. And that life is so good that it will allow you to do this. But it is not all rosy and life throws its hardships from every corner. Look at the state of the country now! When the boom was on did anybody think that in 5 short years down the road this would be happening? No. Because that’s life. You have the blinkered attitude that having children and living on lone parents is a lifestyle choice and nothing could be further from the truth. Are you telling me within your own family or circle of friends you know no one who is a single parent? Or in an unhappy relationship? Or struggling with the way the economy is at the moment? You must live in a bubble if you don’t know one person who fits into any of those categories. Your taxes are funding the economy now, the government do not put it in a wee bank to keep for you when you retire. So it will be the children of today’s taxes that will fund your retirement in the future. That is the way it works. My parents paid into a retirement fund for the last 20 years and it has been lost with the recession. Like so many other people who invested for their future but the bankers lost it for them too. Who will help them when they retire? Do we all begrudge these people who worked hard and prepared hard for their retirements to see it all lost by reckless banks? Or do we start to tell the pensioners to get out and get a job. You have a very blinkered view on life my friend. I truly hope you live your life to its fullest and sustain yourself the way you hope to and achieve this end. But that is something we all want, for ourselves and our children. But if, God forbid, something happens like an accident where a partner is taken away, a relationship breaks down, (love sometimes doesn’t last forever), jobs are lost, recessions take hold, any God’s amount of things can and do happen whereby we find ourselves looking for a bit of help, I pray that there are less people like you around if that does happen and more people willing to give a helping hand to their fellow human being.
and exactly what pays for the hospitals you use? and the roads you drive on? oh and the schools you were..ahem.. “educated” in or that you send your children to? do you need me to go on with the list of things that our childrens taxes will fund? Well, you do know what they say about “Common Sense”, it’s not all that common
Mr. Common Sense, my kids are going to pay for the roads you use, the public lighting you use, the police, fire and medical services you’ll use etc, etc – don’t think that once you’re retired you’ll have paid a lifetime’s worth of use for all those, you’ll have paid up to the point where you ceased being productive, that’s all.
So you want The Government to pay for your kids now, so that your kids will pay for my retirement later?
Sounds like a good deal :D
We’re not looking for the Government to pay for our kids. We are looking for our children to be treated equally and be afforded the same opportunities as children from 2 parent families. However, our children are being denied these rights as we, their parents, are being forced into poverty and being prevented from working.
Guess I am confused then – you see all those things in the article that people were protesting about:
“They marched in protest at cuts to single parents’ allowances, the reduction in entitlement ages, changes to university employment schemes, cuts to college grants and increased registration fees, and cuts to the back-t0-school clothing and footwear allowances.
Do they not come from the taxpayer – with a hefty chunk sticking to our government’s pensions and gold handshakes along the way.
the thing about these cuts is that it is forcing us into longer welfare dependency. we want to work. but with these cuts, it just makes it impossible for so many of us, which in the long run creates even more of a bill for the tax payers. if we were able to go to work and contribute to the tax bill then surely you couldn’t disagree with that?
Even before the cuts all most of us could manage to do was parttime work because of the massive cost of childcare in this country. i personally believe that by supplying affordable and adequate (afterschool care etc.) across the board it would sort out so many problems with poverty and unemployment amongst lone parent families and 2 parent families alike.
All of the cuts that you mentioned along with our pathways to work being closed off is just forcing more of us into poverty and longterm welfare dependency. Surely a government holds a duty to it’s citizens to provide an equal playing field for all families and to provide a route out of poverty rather than turning the current poverty trap into a chasm?
Fair enough. They don’t treat children (or anyone) right in this country.
thats it… we are not all as lucky as you are we?? what about parents who have both lost their jobs, the stress of all that could lead to a break up and people find themselves in a position that they didnt expect…
Freeloaders
oh and by the way…thats what we are fighting for..,to be able to support OUR kids…easier transitions into work so we can support are children….
You clearly know exactly what you’re talking about. Oh wait, sorry that’s me. We’re marching because we are not being afforded our right to work. What few pathways into work that were open for us are being closed off.
And just on the matter of “if you can’t afford it, don’t do it”. Ireland as a nation is currently not having enough children to support the future economy. So I hope you have a miserable retirement because nearly every family in Ireland are putting off having children because “they can’t afford it”. Not to mention the fact that children are not a luxury item. It’s not like going out and buying a 52″ plasm TV. Reproducing is a natural and survival instinct. If we all lived with your mindframe, we’d be extinct by now!
Fair enough :)
Mark I was simply trying to un puzzle you as to why the trade unions were present at the protest…believe me I didn’t misunderstand your comment, it came across loud and clear.
Well my children live in a two parent family I work partime and my husband full time. After mortgage bills petrol and food is paid for and taxes I was left wit just enough to cover childcare and during the summer months I worked for nothing as childcare costs increased as children were off school. The childminder can no longer take my children anymore and now I am facing giving up work as I cannot afford to work as childcare costs more then I earn. I can get no assistance because I am married. Four of us will be living on one wage which is low and will also have to try pay a mortgage. Its not just children from loan parent families suffering everyone is. The government is forcing everyone into unemployment and keeping them there instead of helping and supporting all families they are forcing them into poverty.
have your say