For all the budding Kevin Myers out there...
Facts can so upset a good tirade
(From the Irish Examiner @ http://newsfeed.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/story.asp?j=238061595552&p=z38x6y5958y6&n=238061595844)
Referring to an EU Survey on Income and living Conditions by the Central Statistics Office that confirmed that one-parent families are three-and-a-half times more likely to live in poverty than anyone else in Ireland, Ms Byrne said: "That's what we need to have a debate about."
In 2002 there were 92,573 one-parent families in the State in receipt of social welfare supports.
Over 60% of the 79,195 who were in receipt of the one parent family payment had one child and just over 2% were under 20 years of age.
"I have no doubt that there are 19-year-old mothers of three children in the State but there are very few of them," she said.
One Family spokeswoman Anne Bowen said research published late last year by social researcher Dr Kieran McKeown showed that the well-being of children was not affected in four family structures studied, including one-parent families.
What mattered for the child was not what type of family they grew up in but how they were parented and the quality of the interactions and relationships within the household, she said.
(From the Irish Examiner @ http://newsfeed.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/story.asp?j=238061595552&p=z38x6y5958y6&n=238061595844)
Referring to an EU Survey on Income and living Conditions by the Central Statistics Office that confirmed that one-parent families are three-and-a-half times more likely to live in poverty than anyone else in Ireland, Ms Byrne said: "That's what we need to have a debate about."
In 2002 there were 92,573 one-parent families in the State in receipt of social welfare supports.
Over 60% of the 79,195 who were in receipt of the one parent family payment had one child and just over 2% were under 20 years of age.
"I have no doubt that there are 19-year-old mothers of three children in the State but there are very few of them," she said.
One Family spokeswoman Anne Bowen said research published late last year by social researcher Dr Kieran McKeown showed that the well-being of children was not affected in four family structures studied, including one-parent families.
What mattered for the child was not what type of family they grew up in but how they were parented and the quality of the interactions and relationships within the household, she said.