Understanding Poverty - Combat Poverty Agency

GlossaryBasic Banking Facilities:Simple, low cost current accounts.Co-Habitation Rule:To receive OFP, lone parents must not be co-habiting. This isdefined as “A qualified parent shall not, if and so long as thatparent and any person are cohabiting as husband and wife, beentitled to and shall be disqualified from receiving payment ofone-parent family payment”. Persons are determined to beco-habiting if they share a residence, finances, household duties,sex and go out socially.Community Employment (CE):A scheme designed to help people who are long-termunemployed or otherwise disadvantaged to get back to work.26% of the 22,000 participants are lone parents.Family Income Supplement (FIS):This is a tax free payment to married and unmarried employeeswith children, working a minimum of 19 hours per week. 9,000lone parents are in receipt of FIS.Job Facilitator:Job facilitators help inform and assist people to move fromwelfare to work. They are employed by the EmploymentSupport Unit of the Department of Social and Family Affairs,and are based at local Social Welfare Offices around the country.Jobs Initiative (JI):An initiative where full-time employment is provided in thesocial economy to those over 35 years of age who fulfil certaincriteria. 23% of the 2,000 participants are lone parents.Lone Parent:Someone who has one or more children and is parenting alone.Two classifications are commonly used: (i) lone parents withresident child/ren of any age, never married; (ii) lone parentswith resident dependent child/ren under 15.Medical Card:Medical cards are issued by the Health Service Executive toenable recipients and their dependents to receive certain healthcare services free of charge: GP services, prescribed drugs andmedicines, in-patient public hospital services, dental and auralservices, medical appliances. All lone parents with no otherincome other than OFP receive a medical card. Since 2005 aGP Visit Card is also available which provides entitlement to GPservices only, for those on a slightly higher income.One Parent Family Payment (OFP):A means-tested payment which is made to men and womenwho are caring for a child/ren without the support of apartner. The claimant must be widowed, separated or divorced,unmarried or a prisoner’s spouse.Parental Allowance (PA):A means tested payment proposed for low income families(both two and one parent) with young children. It would replacethe OFP and Qualified Adult Allowance. The PA would be paidto the main carer of the child/ren and would be time limited inrespect of the age of the youngest child.Poverty Trap:Where someone would be financially worse off in a job thanthey would be on social welfare.1415