Latest news with #singleparent
Irish Times
3 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Almost one-in-eight children live with one parent, CSO survey finds
Almost one-in-eight children in Ireland live with one parent , new data from a Central Statistics Office (CSO) survey of 10,000 households shows. The study draws on findings from the longitudinal Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) survey, which followed a group of children born in 2008 – known as 'cohort '08″ – who will be turning 17 this year. Data analysed in this report was collected when the children were three years old. Almost 10,000 households with a three-year-old child were interviewed as part of the survey. Of the 9,793 interviewed, 12 per cent of 'primary-resident' parents reported that their child had another parent who was not living with them, or a 'non-resident parent'. READ MORE A 'non-resident parent' refers to a parent of a child who did not live at the child's primary address at the time of data collection, while 'primary-resident parent' refers to the parent living with the child at the time of the interview who provided most care to the child. Contact details were provided for almost 400 non-resident parents, with responses obtained from 137 of them. All of them were men. Non-resident parents whose contact details were not provided lived further away from their child and had reduced daily contact with their child. They also had decreased rates of providing financial support to the primary-resident parent and reduced frequency of contact with that parent. They had less positive relationships with primary parent than those for whom the primary parent did provide contact details, according to that parent. Half of non-resident parents reported living with the mother of the three-year-old when she became pregnant with the child, while four-in-10 said they spoke about the child with the primary parent every day. Of the 137 non-resident parents who responded, 60.6 per cent said they paid nothing towards the rent or mortgage due on the home where their child was primarily resident. Three-quarters said they provided regular financial support (other than direct mortgage or rent payments) to the primary-resident parent. Three-in-10 primary-resident parents who provided contact details for the non-resident parent reported that the non-resident parent never provided any financial contribution towards the household and maintenance of the child. That figure doubled for those who did not provide contact details. Some 35 per cent of non-resident parents felt they had a lot of influence on big decisions concerning their three-year-old, such as decisions regarding healthcare. Some 51.8 per cent of non-resident parents reported spending more than seven nights with the three-year-old in a typical month, while 47.4 per cent reported that the length of a typical contact occasion with the child was 24 hours or more. Of the primary-resident parents who provided contact details, almost four-in-10 reported that the other parent had daily contact with the child.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
I was a successful single mum when I fell hopelessly in love. After six months he moved in... and changed in the most horrific way imaginable. My story should be a warning to every woman: SARAH ANDERSON
It all started 15 years ago at a dinner party. I was single, in my mid-30s, a mother of two children aged six and eight. My marriage had ended two years before, at my instigation, and it had been very difficult and painful. Now that I look back, I can see that I was worried about being on my own and feeling vulnerable.
The Sun
14-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- The Sun
I'm on Universal Credit & it's tough surviving – I even lost £600 due my husband deciding to get a job, it's impossible
WITH the cost of living crisis squeezing everyone's finances, one mum is questioning how long it will take to see progress in her own situation. Melissa Kerrighen, 29, who has a five-year-old daughter, is on Universal Credit but is struggling to make ends meet. Universal Credit is a welfare scheme that replaces six other benefits with a single monthly payment for those who are out of work or on a low income. Melissa, who works as a sewing machinist making saddles, is now resorting to different money-saving methods in an effort to stay afloat. Taking to her TikTok page ' islaandmeadventures ', Melissa shared a video with her 14.7k followers, detailing her current struggles. She is currently budgeting £50 for the month and explained that before she started keeping track of her spending, she would end up with no money left in her account by the month's end. 'I was paying the minimum amount on my credit card, which was slowly going down because half of the payment I made would be eaten up by interest,' she explains. Melissa would only manage to save around £40 a month. She continues: 'With life at the minute, and with bills constantly going up, it's always one thing after the other, isn't it? 'Trying to manage your finances on a low income is hard. 'It's not just hard on a financial level, it's hard mentally. 'And all those odd spends throughout the month that you just don't seem to notice.' I'm a mum-of-2 on UC & fed up with people calling me a scrounger - yes I've got a £1.5k pram, I can have nice things too This is why Melissa has started tracking her spending, recognising that 'no one else was going to change' her financial situation. In March, Melissa lost £600 a month from Universal Credit after her partner, a workshop manager, started a full-time job. She says: 'That isn't easy to absorb. But even though I'm on a part-time wage, I still have the same amount of bills to pay. It doesn't change, does it?' Melissa goes on to ask: 'If you're on Universal Credit, are you managing to make ends meet right now?' She revealed that on day 13 of her budgeting, she had £21.99 left in the pot for the rest of the month. 3 3 Her video gained 4,820 views, with many people commenting to share their thoughts and experiences, some in similar situations. One wrote: 'My partner works and we claim UC (Universal Credit). [We're] struggling atm, it's because food and bills are so expensive.' A second added: 'I'm disabled and on UC, have to say I'm struggling. 'I'm really trying to manage my finances but every time I think I know what's happening, something major happens.' Whilst a third said: 'I'm really struggling and food is so expensive these days.' And a fourth shared: 'My partner works and I claim UC. 'It's really hard, especially this year as the kids are going on a school trip and we booked a summer holiday. I wish we hadn't as I can't physically save any more.'
