Case Study: Áine’s Story

Áine lives on a local authority housing estate in a rural town in Ireland. She has six children and has been separated from her partner for the last five months. She is a full time mother working at home with her family. In this rural community, part-time work opportunities for women are limited, so the family’s only income is Child Benefit and the Lone Parent payment.

The local authority estate is at the opposite end of the town to where the schools and shopping facilities are, and there is no playground facilities or community centre.

A solid fuel cooker is the only means that Áine has of heating her home: this causes great difficulty in the winter. The cooker is also the only way to heat the water, so the children wash in cold water in the morning.

There are various grant schemes that Áine has applied to for help for occasions such as Confirmation and First Holy Communion. She found the process of applying difficult; it meant many trips to the social welfare office and to the school.

The children’s diet is poor and a more varied one would be healthier. There is little competition among the shops in the town so the cost of food is high. If there was public transport available, Áine could go to a neighbouring town to the larger shops.

Áine feels that there is no free education system. The hidden costs of books and school trips make life difficult for children and their children. The children are very perceptive. Often they wouldn’t tell their parents about a school trip because they don’t want to offend their parents if they couldn’t afford it. Or they would tell their friends that they didn’t want to go anyway.

There are steps that the Government can take to ensure that Áine and her children live in suitable, adequate accommodation, and have enough money to pay for healthy food and education.

This case study in adapted from ‘Children Living Without’, a report published by Barnardos in 2003 as part of their Every Child Matters campaign. Barnardos are a partner organisation in the End Child Poverty Coalition.