A social welfare reform that came into effect yesterday will allow families receiving social welfare payments retain more of their payment if they engage in part-time employment.
The reform, announced by Minister for Social and Family Affairs Martin Cullen, targets the spouses and partners of people on a jobseekers' allowance and allows them to bring home more money if they choose to work outside the home.
"The overall aim of these reforms is to encourage spouses and partners to move beyond long-term part-time employment," he said. "The new measures are designed to be progressive, particularly for woman, as they are currently the majority of 'qualified adults' in our social system."
A qualified adult is the spouse or partner of the person receiving the household's main social welfare payment. The individual in part-time work will now be able to earn up to €60 a week before being means tested, up from €50.
A department spokeswoman said under the old regime, where one adult is in receipt of a jobseeker's payment and the other adult earned €200 a week from part-time work, family income totalled €396.30. Under the new reform, the total will be €425.00. Meanwhile, all recipients of the jobseekers' allowance will now receive 20 per week per child.