Vienna (OTS) – 15% of single parents and their children lived in absolute poverty in 2023, more than four times as common as families with at least two adults. This emerges from the latest EU SILC survey. The new record value is explained by high childcare costs, hyperinflation, lack of child support and inadequate state support. The Feminist Single Parents Association – FEM.A is therefore declaring a state of emergency for single parents.
Andrea Czak, executive chairwoman of the Feminist Single Parents Association – FEM.A: „There is a need for immediate action. Single parents and their children are in an acute emergency! While the Chancellor actually doesn’t want to understand why not all parents manage to provide their children with a warm meal every other day, 15% of single parents are now struggling to provide their children with the bare necessities. Where is the state if fathers don’t pay child support?
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For example, people living in absolute poverty cannot afford a hot meal every other day, replace worn-out clothes, or meet friends or family for food or drinks at least once a month.
Instead of the government’s goal of halving financial poverty, poverty among single parents increased by 28%: In 2023, 41% of single parents lived in poverty and 48% were at risk of poverty or exclusion. This is almost three times as common as other families with children. Among children up to 14 years of age in single-parent households, 53% were at risk of poverty or exclusion.
The OECD has calculated that child poverty costs Austria 17.2 billion euros annually. Given the fatal consequences, it is even more important to finally take child poverty seriously and take targeted measures. Austria is one of the richest countries in the world; there are about as many millionaires and billionaires as there are children at risk of poverty.
The reasons for the poverty of single parents and their children are varied: the costs of children in single-parent households are almost twice as high compared to couple families. This results from the similar high fixed costs for housing and household energy for single parents as for two-parent families. In addition, single parents are particularly affected by hyperinflation because they are forced to spend all of their low income to cover their basic needs. In addition, inflation has risen disproportionately in precisely these areas: rents, food and household energy. Only half of the children of single parents receive maintenance from their father. Due to the restrictive access requirements, only one in ten children is entitled to the state maintenance guarantee advance. Through father-friendly maintenance laws, children who receive maintenance are only reimbursed for a fraction of the child’s costs. In 2021, the coverage level of EUR 304 in child support per child was just around a third of the child costs.
Single parents are also disadvantaged from a tax perspective: at least half of the family bonus usually goes to the fathers, so the children do not benefit from it. In addition, fathers who pay maintenance can get part of it back through the maintenance deduction on the employee’s assessment. mothers, Those who do not receive maintenance for their children and have to pay for their children in full as a subsidiary to their father do not receive any tax relief. Against the background of the tax exemption of assets, a financial transaction tax that has still not been implemented and the 1.4 billion euros in COFAG aid, which has flowed entirely into business aid, the government’s inaction seems cynical in view of the poverty of single parents.
One-off payments such as the housing allowance and the child allowance have prevented a catastrophe in 2023, but given the continued high inflation, there is a need for sustainable and structural protection for single parents and their children. The Feminist Single Parents Association takes the position that governments that create laws that allow fathers of children to shirk their responsibilities without or with symbolic maintenance payments should be responsible for the very child poverty they cause.
Andrea Czak, FEM.A: „Currently, mothers are saddled with the entire burden of fathers’ unwillingness to pay. The state protects fathers’ assets and income. We call on the government to immediately take effective measures to end the financial crisis of single parents! Separation for women, especially in cases of domestic violence, must be possible and must not be prevented by a lack of financial resources! Sufficient financial resources to live on are also protection against violence – they prevent financial violence against women in relationships.
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About the organization:
The Feminist Single Parents Association – FEM.A is unique in Austria with its advice and services on the topics of maintenance, custody and contact law. It ranges from free webinars with lawyers and psychologists, relief discussions on the free FEM.A telephone, to information on the website, in a regular newsletter, as well as on various social media channels, networking, exchange of experiences and lobbying.
Questions & Contact:
Association of Feminist Single Parents – FEM.A
Andrea Czak, MA
Managing Chairwoman
+43 6991 97 10 306
andrea.czak@verein-fema.at
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