Lone parents are set to lose their benefits when their youngest child reaches the age of 13 rather than the current 22 under controversial proposals outlined at the weekend by Minister for Social Protection, Eamon O Cuiv (pictured).

The proposals are broadly in line with recommendations contained in an OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) report published in 2009.

That report, entitled ‘Doing Better for Children’ criticised Ireland for spending too much on single parent families compared with most other Western countries.

The report said: “There is little or no evidence that these benefits positively influence child wellbeing, while they discourage single-parent employment”.

It recommends phasing out the payments when children reach compulsory school-age and that the savings be used to improve family income or early childhood education.

The new proposal does not go as far as the OECD recommendation which would mean phasing out the payment when a child reaches age 5. In Britain, where payments to lone parents are also generous, the cut-off point for payment now takes place when the youngest child reaches age 7.

Almost 90,000 people received the one-parent family payment. Lone parents are disproportionately likely to be in poverty.

Marriage is one of the best protectors against poverty. A US study by Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill showed that if marriage rate in America were the same today as in 1970, the rate of poverty would be cut by between 20 and 30 percent.

The new government proposal has been strongly criticised by Fine Gael as “blunt and brutal”.

Susan McKay of the National Women’s Council said the change “will harm children and create a new generation of latch-key kids.”