Government plans to move thousands of welfare-dependent lone parents into the workforce may end up trapping women in poverty, according to research funded by the State's advisory body on anti-poverty measures.
It says that a plan that does not deal with practical obstacles such as childcare costs, transport and educational disadvantage may force lone parents into poorly-paid, part-time work and place parents in a more vulnerable position.
The research by Dr Mary Murphy, a former visiting research fellow at Trinity College Dublin's policy institute, says the introduction of work requirements should be delayed until quality supports are in place.
She also questions whether it is fair or consistent to financially support some parents' choice of caring for their children full-time, while obliging lone parents on welfare to work part time.
Dr Murphy says that given the low levels of educational achievement among welfare-dependent lone parents, an educational guarantee rather than compulsory work requirement would be a more useful strategy. Detailed research of the "working poor" shows that women in part-time work are already among those most at risk of poverty.
"Without strategies to enhance the capacity of part-time work to be an effective route out of poverty, an activation strategy based on part-time work may trap these women into poverty," Dr Murphy says in her report, Reframing the Irish Activation Debate. The paper was funded jointly by the Policy Institute in Trinity College and Combat Poverty.
"The introduction of work requirements should be at least delayed until adequate institutional frameworks and quality supports are in place. It is necessary to be ambitious about the future but grounded about the reality and tensions in women's lives and to focus on what is required to achieve long-term child well-being in future generations," she says.
Under the Government's welfare reform plans, lone parents would be obliged to seek work or training once their youngest child reaches the age of eight.
Minister for Social and Family Affairs Martin Cullen has indicated that lone parents will receive one-to-one support from social welfare officials to help them access employment, training or other supports such as childcare. The planned reforms are being piloted in Co Kilkenny and in Dublin.
However, Dr Murphy says major institutional reforms will be needed in Fás, in the department and the city and county development boards. This, she says, will require a "quantum leap" in the political and bureaucratic leadership.
Commenting on the research, the acting director of Combat Poverty, Kevin O'Kelly, said the study confirmed the need for comprehensive supports to overcome the barriers preventing low-income parents from taking up paid employment.
"Recent statistics from the Central Statistics Office show that the rate of poverty among people living in lone parent households increased from 27.2 per cent to 32.5 per cent between 2005 and 2006," he said.
