Newly formed organisation, STAY-AT- HOME PARENTS ASSOCIATION IRELAND, has attacked Government budget proposals which favour families where the parents work outside the home and requested a meeting to ensure that the childcare payment is extended to all families.
The association was formed last week to provide a voice for parents who believe that families should have a real option to provide childcare themselves, and has gathered 730 members, elected a representative committee and set out policy objectives which include:
· To have our work in the home valued and counted, and to call on the government to introduce fair policies which recognise the massive contribution parents in the home make to Irish society.
· To allow families choice through flexible working arrangements, job protection and equitable tax treatment for single income families.
· To ensure that the needs of all Irish families are taken into account in any discussion about the economic needs of the country as the two are fully entwined and not mutually exclusive.
Catherine Walsh, spokesperson for STAY-AT- HOME PARENTS ASSOCIATION IRELAND, said “Since tax individualisation in 2000, families in which one parent stays at home have been at a disadvantage through taxation. These families not only forgo a second income, they also reach the higher rate of tax much earlier than dual income families. Having a parent at home is a choice many families make anyway, working hard to manage the family’s finances, but it is a choice that is under threat due to continued political developments. The way in which the system is set up disadvantages single income families, including lone parents, by favouring dual income households”.
She continued “Government policy is currently focused on encouraging parents to rely on paid childcare, and the needs of families with a stay at home parent seldom if ever figure into the discussion. The problem with paying some families for childcare is that it then quickly becomes unaffordable for other families to make the choice to stay at home”.
The group has launched an online petition available at https://my.uplift.ie/…/stay-at- home-parents-provide- childca… and has requested a meeting with Ministers Katherine Zappone and Michael Noonan.
ENDS
Contact:
Catherine Walsh, 085 7174480
Pauline O’Reilly, 083 0044711
SAHPIreland@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/homeparentsireland/