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Mean Spirit of Budget 2012 will Haunt Low Income Families

Dublin, 5 December 2011 – Barnardos today expressed concern at the impact that social welfare changes announced in Budget 2012 will have on low income families. While the children’s charity welcomed the Government’s decision not to cut basic Child Benefit rates for the first and second child, it said that the decision to cut rates for the third and subsequent child would put larger families under increased pressure. The loss of €19 per month for the third child and €17 for the fourth and each subsequent child equates to a total loss of €432 a year for a family with four children. The loss of support to these families comes days after recent CSO statistics indicate that amongst those that saw their consistent poverty rates rise from 6.3% in 2009 to 9.6% to 2010 are families with more than three children.

“It is well known that larger families are at a greater risk of poverty,” said Barnardos’ Chief Executive Fergus Finlay. “23% of families in Ireland have three or more children and it is their childhoods that are being compromised. This is a policy choice that is again inequitable and unredistributive, it will adversely affect those on low incomes and reliant on social welfare.”

This is the fifth year of harsh cuts that many families will have to face and Barnardos fears that this Budget’s combination of increases in rent supplement contributions, increases in school transport costs, the abolition of concurrent payments and increases of taxes being announced tomorrow will push these families over the edge. The Government’s Growing up in Ireland longitudinal study showed that 61% of families with three year olds, interviewed for the study, are experiencing difficulties in making ends meet. This is unsurprising given the widespread austerity measures that families have had to deal with.

“We are fast approaching a situation where more children will be going hungry because their parents’ cannot afford sufficient quantities of food. While the loss of €19 in Child Benefit payment per month may not sound like much, in reality for a family with three children it means parents having to go without basic necessities like nappies and milk formula for a baby or a child going without a winter coat,” said Norah Gibbons, Barnardos Director of Advocacy.

“These are mean cuts and it is sad to see any progress previously made now roll back. Removing the grant paid to parents on the occasion of multiple births is hitting parents at a time when they most need support. Stopping the One Parent Family Payment once a child turns seven is also mean – what is a lone parent with a seven and a half year old child expected to do when childcare is so expensive and very few part-time positions are available?”

With regard to education cuts announced, Ms Gibbons added: “Time and time again, families are expressing immense fear and frustration at the extent of the costs they must pay in order to send their children to school. The Barnardos annual School Costs survey found that it costs on average €350 for a Junior Infants pupil and €805 for a 1st year pupil in secondary school. While the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance has never fully reflected the true costs that parents incur, it has been a lifeline for some families. Now this allowance will be reduced by €55 for a child attending secondary school and by €50 for a child attending primary school, with parents having to make up more of the deficit.”

“Many of these cuts are mean spirited and short sighted measures that will push many families further into poverty and deprivation. We understand that savings must be made but the combination of changes announced today will haunt families on low incomes for many years to come, concluded Ms Gibbons. Our children deserve more if they are to be given an opportunity to reach their full potential in life.” ENDS