Paltry payments fail women in poverty!

Published: Tuesday, December 02, 2003

'Given the surplus budget available to the Minister, we are incredulous that he only increased child benefit rates by €6 and €8 per month, respectively," declared Mary Kelly, NWCI Chairperson. "The minister seems to have totally forgotten about the childcare crisis that so many women are facing. He spoke of the need to safe-guard our economic growth, but what about the need to safe-guard the future of our children?" she continued.

"Over 54% of all social welfare claimants are women. Poor women rely on supports like child benefit, one parent family payments and pensions to make ends meet. This Budget does not bridge the ever-widening gap between the real cost of living and the social welfare rates. This failure impacts particularly heavily on women, who are primarily responsible for balancing the household budget." stated Ms. Kelly. "With cuts in CE schemes, childcare, rent supplement and increases in everyday expenses such as bus and train fares, ESB, gas, and bin charges, the rate increases of a measly €10 announced today betrays women. To add insult to injury, the Minister failed to meet his commitments to increase the qualified adult allowance to 70% of the full adult payment." she continued.

"Yet again, those earning the lowest wages, mostly women, are still facing a tax bill at the end of the year, despite the promises made by the Fianna Fail/Progressive Democrat Government." stated Ms. Kelly. "In addition, the eligibility levels for medical cards have not increased, so many minimum wage earners will not have access to health care. Combined with the widespread cuts, the position of the low paid is likely to deteriorate in 2004. Clearly women in poverty do not feature on the Government's priority list." she continued.