Peadar Tóibín
Question:526. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Social Protection if she has made any changes to the family income supplement scheme since she took office. [34033/22]
View answerThursday, 14 July 2022
Questions (526)
Written answers
The Working Family Payment (WFP) is a weekly tax-free payment for employees with children which supports people in low paid employment. The WFP is designed to prevent in-work poverty for low paid workers with child dependents, and to offer a financial incentive to take up and stay in employment.
It is a targeted measure that is directly linked to household income and therefore directly supports low-income working families. There are approximately 46,000 families with 103,000 children who are currently in receipt of WFP. The estimated spend of WFP in 2022 is €349 million.
Budget 2020 introduced an increase in the income limits for families with one to three children.
Budget 2022 introduced an increase in the income thresholds by €10 for each family size.
The increase in the Working Family Payment income thresholds is one of a number of measures included in Budget 2022 which were specifically targeted at low-income families with children.
It was originally intended that this increase in the Working Family Payment income thresholds would take effect from June 2022. However, as part of the €505 million package of measures which the Government introduced to assist families with the rising cost of living it was decided to bring this change in from 7th April 2022.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.