Parenting alone

You may find yourself parenting alone due to a variety of circumstances.

Whatever the reason, there are a range of benefits and entitlements you may be entitled to, depending on your circumstances. In addition, there are important legal issues you should be aware of that affect people parenting alone.

Maternity leave and Maternity Benefit

If you are working, no matter how long you have been working, you are entitled to take maternity leave for a basic period of 26 weeks. At least 2 weeks have to be taken before the end of the week of your baby's expected birth and at least four weeks after. You may qualify for Maternity Benefit if you are in insurable employment up to the first day of your maternity leave and you have a certain number of paid PRSI contributions.

Additional (unpaid) maternity leave

You can take up to a further 16 weeks’ additional maternity leave immediately after your maternity leave ends. This additional maternity leave is often called ‘unpaid maternity leave’ because you are not covered by Maternity Benefit and your employer does not have to pay you during it. You will get a social insurance (PRSI) credit for each week of unpaid leave you take.

Adoptive leave

Adoptive leave provides 24 weeks’ leave from work to one parent of the adopting couple or a parent who is adopting alone. The 24 weeks start from the date the child is placed in your care. If you have enough PRSI contributions, you may be able to get Adoptive Benefit. It is available to both employees and self-employed people.

You can take up to 16 additional weeks’ unpaid adoptive leave but you cannot claim Adoptive Benefit for these extra weeks.

Parental leave

When you return to work you may be able to take parental leave. Both parents are entitled to take 26 weeks of parental leave for each eligible child. You must take parental leave before your child’s 12th birthday. Parental leave is unpaid. Generally, you must have been working for your employer for a year before you can take parental leave.

Parent’s leave and Parent’s Benefit

Parent’s leave is a statutory entitlement for working parents. The paid leave lets parents spend more time with their baby or adopted child during the first 2 years. Parent’s Benefit is paid while you are on parent’s leave from work if you have enough social insurance (PRSI) contributions.

From 1 August 2024, Parent's Benefit increases from 7 weeks to 9 weeks. The extra 2 weeks apply to children who are under the age of 2 on 1 August 2024, and adoptive children who have been placed with their family for less than 2 years on 1 August 2024.

Leave for medical care reasons

Since 3 July 2023, you can take unpaid leave if you need to take time off work to deal with medical care for your child or other relevant person. You can take up to 5 days' leave for medical care in any 12 consecutive months. Read more about unpaid leave for medical care.

Death of a parent

Fathers may be entitled to maternity leave or adoptive leave if the mother dies. The number of weeks you can take as leave depends on how many weeks after the birth the mother dies. The leave starts within 7 days of the mother’s death.

If you have not already taken 2 weeks paternity leave, you can take it at the end of this maternity leave or adoptive leave.

If the parent entitled to paternity leave dies, the surviving parent may be able to use their paternity leave. If you have enough PRSI contributions, you may be eligible for Paternity Benefit.

If you are parenting alone you may qualify for certain social welfare payments. Since 4 June 2024, child maintenance payments are not included in the means test for social assistance payments. However, if you are getting maintenance that is not child maintenance, this will continue to be means-tested.

Child Benefit is payable for each child under 16 years of age, or under 18 years of age if the child is in full-time education or has a disability. From 1 May 2024, Child Benefit is extended to children aged 18 who are in full-time education or who have a disability until their 19th birthday. Child Benefit is not means-tested.

One-Parent Family Payment is a means-tested payment for parents who are bringing children up without the support of a partner. It is payable to a single parent, a widow/widower/surviving civil partner, a prisoner's spouse/civil partner, a separated or divorced person, a person whose marriage/civil partnership has been annulled or whose civil partnership has been dissolved.

Basic Supplementary Welfare Allowance is a weekly allowance paid to people who do not have enough income to meet their needs and the needs of their families. If you have no income, you may be entitled to the basic Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA). If your weekly income is below the Supplementary Welfare Allowance rate for your family size, a payment may be made to bring your income up to the appropriate Supplementary Welfare Allowance rate.

Working Family Payment (WFP) is a weekly tax-free payment for employees with children. It supports people who are on low pay. You must have at least one child who normally lives with you or who you support financially. You may be entitled to WFP in addition to your One-Parent Family Payment or Widow’s, Widower’s or Surviving Civil Partner’s (Contributory) Pension.

You may be entitled to a Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Contributory) Pension if either you or your deceased spouse has enough PRSI contributions. Under the Occupational Injuries Benefit Scheme, a Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's Pension may be payable if the death was due to an occupational injury or disease or an accident while travelling directly to or from work.

There is a legal responsibility on both spouses to maintain each other and any dependent children in accordance with their means. Separated or divorced parents are responsible for the maintenance of their children and may have maintenance responsibilities in respect of each other, depending on the terms of the separation or divorce.

Civil partners are also legally obliged to maintain each other and any dependent children in accordance with their means and may have maintenance responsibilities in respect of each other if the civil partnership is dissolved, depending on the terms of the dissolution.

Cohabiting parents do not have a financial responsibility to each other but both parents have a responsibility for the maintenance of their children. A cohabitant who is a guardian of their partner’s child, or the child their partner has the day-to-day care of, has a financial responsibility to the child.

Since 4 June 2024, child maintenance payments are not included in the means test for social assistance payments. However, if you are getting maintenance that is not child maintenance, this will continue to be means-tested. For example, any spousal maintenance you get will be means-tested.

If a cohabiting relationship ends, you may have a right to maintenance under the redress scheme for cohabiting couples.

You can find out about maintenance here. There is also information on how maintenance is assessed for social welfare payments and how maintenance affects your tax.

The Single Person Child Carer Credit (SPCCC) is a tax credit for people who are caring for children on their own. It came into effect on 1 January 2014. It replaced the One-Parent Family Tax Credit.

If you are widowed or a surviving civil partner, you can claim an increased personal tax credit. The amount of the tax credit depends on whether or not you have dependent children and when your spouse or civil partner died. You can find out more about tax in the year of death and the years following a death.

The Revenue Commissioners have information on the tax treatment of widowed people and surviving civil partners. Surviving civil partners are treated the same as widows or widowers for tax purposes.

Guardianship rights entitle the parent of a child to make important decisions regarding that child, for example, decisions about the child's religion, education, medical treatment and where the child lives. All mothers, irrespective of whether they are married or unmarried, have automatic guardianship status in relation to their children, unless they place the child up for adoption.

Fathers married to the mother of their children also have automatic guardianship rights. A father, however, who is not married to the mother of their child or children does not have automatic guardianship rights in relation to that child or children. Find out more about guardianship here. Mothers who are sole guardians should make a will appointing guardians of their children in the event of their own death.

Temporary guardianship

If you are parenting alone, temporary guardianship allows you to nominate another adult for a brief period to care for your child should you become seriously ill and unable to care for your child.

You need to complete a special form to nominate a temporary guardian (pdf), in which you can set out your wishes on any limitations on the temporary guardian. The nominated person must then apply to the District Court if you cannot carry out your parental role due to serious illness.

Kinship care

In some circumstances, grandparents, other relatives or a family friend may take on the full-time care of children and young people, when parents are not able to care for them. Sometimes this is called kinship care. Many kinship care arrangements are informal unlike relative foster care which is a formal arrangement. Depending on how your kinship family is formed there are different routes to secure your legal relationship with and responsibility for the children and young people in your care.

Custody refers to the day-to-day care, residency and upbringing of children who are under the age of 18. The children reside permanently with the parent who has custody and the other parent is granted access to the children at agreed times, which can include overnight access. It is possible for parents to continue to have joint custody of their children after separation or divorce and for the children to spend an equal amount of time with each parent if the parents can agree and arrange this.

Access is the right of a child to maintain direct contact with the parent that they do not live with. It can include the child staying overnight either occasionally, on alternate weekends or during school holidays and for the parent and child going on holidays together.

When the parents of a child separate and they cannot agree on who should have custody of the child, the court decides. An unmarried mother is sometimes the sole guardian of a child born outside of marriage. However, it is not necessary for the father to have guardianship to be able to apply for access or custody.