Madam, - Your report of the opinions of Dr Edward Walsh in relation to lone parent families in Ireland is shocking (The Irish Times, January 27th).
His suggestion that "high levels of substance abuse, rape, child abuse and other unpleasant social phenomena" are associated with the growth of lone-parent families reveals a shallow acceptance of urban myths by someone holding the title of professor emeritus.
Contrary to his under-researched views, alleging that the State provides financial incentives to lone parents to live on welfare, the Irish State provides incentives for lone parent families to take up work by providing for special tax credits for lone parents, through investment in equal opportunities childcare programmes, through social programmes to improve educational attainment, and through the Teen Parent Support Initiative.
These fiscal, educational and parenting policies are supported by all political parties in the Oireachtas. There is no evidence that the Irish public or political opinion favours US policies which expel mothers of small children from the welfare rolls and force them into minimum wage jobs, converting the families into a large army of working poor. The challenge for social science and for university scholarship is to bring insight and reflection into how Ireland will develop with a diverse range of family types and how young families can choose to parent their children as they wish when mortgage repayments compel parents to work full-time. - Yours, etc.,
Dr PAULINE CONROY, Whitethorn Road, Dublin 14.