Number of lone parent families in Ireland at highest level since 2012

Our single income family numbers are also well above the 16.5% EU average

The number of lone parent families in Ireland has reached its highest level since 2012, the Irish Mirror can reveal.

Our latest data investigation exposes how our nation has the sixth highest proportion of single parent families out of 28 EU countries.

With one in five or 21% of households across the country made up of a child or children living with a single parent – Ireland has more lone parent families than the UK, at 20.8%.

Our single income family numbers are also well above the 16.5% EU average.

Only Latvia, Lithuania, Belgium, France and Malta have higher proportions of single parent families, according to from EU think-tank Eurostat.

Karen Kiernan of lone parent advocacy group One Family Ireland said child poverty will increase with the number of single income households unless proper supports are put in place.

She told the Irish Mirror: “One income families are four and a half times more likely to live in consistent poverty than other families.

“The main barriers to keeping families out of poverty right now are childcare and accommodation costs which, at their current levels, make it practically impossible for single income households to survive.

“There have been eight reports and hundreds of recommendation over the last few years around putting the structures and supports in place for single income families.

“But these recommendations are not being implemented.”

She added: “We know what needs to be done, but we are not doing it.”

Our data probe shows that the numbers of lone parent families reached a six year high in 2018 – the latest year for which data is available.

The year 2010 saw Ireland reach a 10-year high with lone parent families making up 26.3% or one in four of the total - the second highest proportion in the EU behind Latvia.

From 2011 onwards numbers fell steadily for five years, reaching a low of 17.8% in 2015.

However, our figures show that numbers have been on the rise again since 2016, increasing by around 1% annually.

The news comes after the Courts Service pledged earlier this month to hear more cases relating to access and child maintenance issues remotely during the COVID crisis.

One Family Ireland said its helpline has been ‘inundated’ with calls during the pandemic from struggling single parents whose partners were failing to cough up child maintenance payments.