Parents turn to credit unions for school bills help [Independent.ie]
- Published: 29 August 2010
HARD-PRESSED parents from the dwindling ranks of Ireland's middle and higher income earners are turning in increasing numbers to their local credit union for loans to fund the spiralling cost of sending their children back to school.
With the State unwilling to draw any distinction between the earned and disposable incomes of hundreds of thousands of households, the cost of paying for text books, uniforms and the ever-increasing range of costs associated with Ireland's 'free' education system, is adding to the burden on parents and guardians already struggling with mortgages, car loans, a plethora of Government levies and the basic day-to-day cost of putting food on the table.
When money wasn't an object, we called them the 'coping classes'. But as the relentless grind of the recession continues, middle Ireland's ability to cope would appear to be fading fast.
Not that the Government has any intention of giving the people who pay the most in income tax a break when it matters most.
According to the qualifying criteria for its Back to School Clothing and Footwear Scheme, for instance, a lone parent with one child cannot earn more than €410 a week, while a couple with one child is limited to a joint weekly income of €563.
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