Updated 21.47

SEPARATED PARENTS WHO share custody of children will have less money as a result of tax changes introduced by today’s budget.

New tax changes announced today mean that the One-Parent Family Tax Credit will only be available to the primary carer of a child and not both parents who share custody. It will now be known as the Single Person Child Carer Tax Credit.

The value of the credit at €1,650 per year will not change but Karen Kiernan of the support service One Family says that the change to eligibility means there will be less money available for the care of children showing that the Government does not understand the financial pressures facing separated parents:

There’ll be less money to go around, a lot of children basically live in two one-parent families, live between their Mum and their Dad. Their parents are running bedrooms, heat, all the costs are there and the credit was a valuable thing to recognise familes are sharing things well.

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Kiernan says that One Family has already been in contact with some lone parents who are worried that fathers, for example, who avail of the credit will be hit by the changes and may find it more difficult to keep up with maintenance payments:

Dads who are trying to take responsibility for their children and contribute financially in terms of parenting are now going to be penalised with less money to go around in poor families.

First published 20.55