Abstract
Drawing on the experience of 8 community education providers in Ireland, this paper explores the impact of community education on lone parents who often face disproportionate risks of poverty and social exclusion, with recommendations for policy development and service improvements to enable lone parents to take up further education, training and employment.
Introduction
Households headed by a lone parent with low levels of completed education are among those at greatest risk of long-term unemployment and poverty in Ireland. The economic and social disadvantage faced by these households has potential lifelong adverse consequences for children from these one-parent families. The stark economic reality of the link between education, employment, and poverty have been consistently highlighted in research. Reports from the Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI) (Roantree & Doorley, 2023; Roantree, et al., 2025) show that lone parent families, without an earner, had the highest risk of poverty. This confirms a definitive link between education, employment, and poverty.
This paper directly relates to Government policy ambitions. The Breaking the Cycle: New Measures in Budget 2026 to Address Child Poverty and Promote Well-being report[i], prepared by the Child Poverty and Well-being Programme Office in the Department of the Taoiseach, highlights targeted approaches that the Irish Government will implement to close the gap for children and families most at risk of poverty and educational disadvantage, including lone parent households.
This paper draws on findings from a qualitative study conducted by the Centre for Effective Services (CES), between 2022 and 2023, funded by the Beachaire Fund and Community Foundation Ireland. The research explored the experience of 8 community organisations delivering community education programmes to lone parents across Ireland, with some settings being in operation as far back as 1979. The study involved 135 lone parent learners, predominantly women ranging in age from their early twenties to eighty, and over 50 community education providers and managers. The sample of lone parents included a mix of current learners participating in community education programmes during the research period as well as those who had participated in similar programmes in the past. They were engaged through semi-structured conversations, interviews, and focus groups, and the findings are synthesised into a thematic report, a suite of eight case studies of the community education settings and eleven vignettes, all brought together in a one comprehensive report[ii]. The research was supported and steered by a Research Advisory Committee (RAC) who have rich experience of social research, community development, and community education, particularly as a support for lone parents. Quotes from the study give voice to the journey of lone parents through community education, its benefits and positive impact.
The findings contribute to, and confirm, the body of evidence telling us that community education provides opportunities for a return to education for lone parents that can open new and diverse pathways within education, economic activity, as well as involvement and representation in community development and political representation.
‘It is all about the first step and participating in first step courses to restore confidence and bring participants back to a community and classroom setting.’ (Eustace, Bailey, & Tubridy, 2023).
The research also highlights that community education is a vital part of the overall system of provision and an integrated approach to delivering a range of national policies, including further education and training (FET), labour market activation, and health and wellbeing. There is strong evidence to support investment in community education to ensure a robust response to the needs of lone parents in contemporary Ireland.
Note on Terminology
The terms community education and lone parents are quite difficult terms to strictly define due to their varied forms and expressions. However, for the purposes of this paper, the following definitions will be applied.
As adopted in the SOLAS Community Education Framework (2024, p. 12), “Community education is both formal and non-formal learning led by communities for communities to support personal, social, educational, environmental, economic and community development”.
Lone parents refer to those who chose to self-identify as single parents, lone parents, people parenting alone and one-parent families (Eustace, Bailey, & Tubridy, 2023, p. 33).
Why Community Education Matters: A Policy Response
Statistics have shown consistent trends of poverty in one-parent families compared to the general population across the Island of Ireland. Slane et al. (2023) found that more than half of the single and separated parents surveyed in Northern Ireland experience significant financial struggles and hardship. Similarly, in the Republic of Ireland, the latest Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) published in 2025 by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) found that:
- Those living in households with one adult and one or more children aged under 18 had the highest enforced deprivation rate in 2024 at 46.3%. This is up from 41.4% in 2023. The rate for households with two adults and 1-3 children aged under 18 is 16.2%, meaning that one-parent families are about three times more likely to be living in enforced deprivation than two-parent families.
- More than seven in ten (73%) single-adult households with children under 18 had at least ‘some difficulty’ in making ends meet in 2024, with two in ten (21.5%) reporting ‘with great difficulty’ (Central Statistics Office, 2025).
This highlights the need for more targeted supports to address intergenerational poverty and its driving factors, including low educational attainment and social exclusion.
Community education programmes and initiatives are brought forward as interventions that address these disadvantages which disproportionately affect lone parents and their families. This builds on a robust body of research and policy that indicate that community education has far-reaching outcomes on individual and systemic levels.
The Further Education and Training Strategy 2026-2030, Creating Futures (SOLAS, 2026)[iii] highlights community education as an approach to making learning opportunities accessible, with a priority placed on adult literacy needs and targeting under-represented groups. The Strategy recognises the provision of quality community-based education as essential to create social cohesion, encourage active citizenship, and also help to address the general decline in literacy, reading and concentration due to increased digital media consumption.
Similarly, the National Skills Strategy 2025, Ireland’s Future (2016)[iv] seeks to increase engagement in lifelong learning, with a commitment to improving community education provision across Ireland. The strategy also emphasises a focus on active inclusion to support the participation of disadvantaged and under-represented groups in education and training, and the labour market. Community education programmes are highlighted as being accessible to people of all ages who left the school system early.
‘I left school very early, at age 14, and was very bad at spelling and a lot of things I did not do because of this, the little courses helped me to feel confident again.’ (past participant, female)
The wide scope of programme content in community education settings offer to meet the diverse needs of individual lone parents. The content varies from personal development and health and wellbeing courses (e.g., art, crafts, photography, gardening, yoga, and mindfulness) through to accredited programmes (e.g., social care, social policy, childcare, special needs assisting, and business administration).
Wraparound supports are also highlighted as a distinctive feature of community education and one of the main determinants of successful participation, completion, and progression of lone parents. These supports include childcare, parenting support, travel allowance, peer support, IT (Information Technology) support, equipment, driving lessons, mentoring, key working, career guidance, and personal counselling. Community education also includes one-to-one support, provided by community education tutors and facilitators, who are trauma-aware and experienced, and many of whom have lived experience of lone parenting themselves. Wraparound supports create a sense of psychological safety in the community education setting, that encourages open communication and collaboration, which is essential for effective learning.
‘The big attraction was that that my baby was able to come here with me. He was able to go to Creche; that was a big thing; it was a huge support; I just literally dropped him off, and then I was just able to attend the course without worry.’ (past participant, female)
‘The most valuable aspect is the tutors, who really listen and understand that everyone has their own story. The classes are there to teach new things and yet the standout feature is the support. For me it is all about the support’ (past participant, female)
‘I felt listened to and treated as an equal parent, even as a man (as most men would not know how to access these supports and services). The communication piece was so helpful for me, and the key working and peer-to-peer support.’ (past participant, male)
‘The hours and accessibility of the course was perfect for me and my situation at the time, with myself and my child at home.’ (past participant, female)
The journey through Community Education
The study found three main points of entry to community education for lone parents.
- Labour Market Activation: This entry point is generally through Community Employment and/or encouragement from the Department of Social Protection. The Community Employment (CE) programme, administered by the Department of Social Protection, is designed to help people who are long-term unemployed (or otherwise disadvantaged) to access employment opportunities by offering part-time and temporary placements in jobs based within local communities[v].
- Trauma or significant life event: Entry into or beginning community education sometimes occurs following a trauma or significant life event including recovery, homelessness, loss of a business or a job resulting in a recommendation or referral from a social worker, family support worker, or public health nurse.
- Personal Agency – Self referral: The findings indicate that for this entry point the person feels a readiness which can be psychological readiness as well as situational readiness in terms of, for example, their children’s ages, feelings of independence, self-motivation, and inner drive to return to education.
Mental Health and Wellbeing
All 135 community education participants in this research were lone parents in caring roles. This includes caring for their children; some were also caring for older parents and roughly one-third were caring for children with additional needs. Many were naturally very caught up in their caring roles and consequently experiencing isolation that impacted their mental health.
Their participation in community education brought a sense of belonging and connectedness which eased the loneliness and isolation some experienced. Therefore, participating in community education positively impacts mental health and wellbeing, for lone parent participants and their children.
‘You forget who you are when you are caring for others, I wanted to find myself and be more than just a mother.’ (current participant, female)
‘Making connections and friends – meeting people helped me to feel motivated.’ (current participant, female)
‘My children are benefitting from me being happy.’ (past participant, female)
Generational Impact
The community setting is especially powerful in that the trusted and safe environment draws people in, particularly those who have poor experiences of formal education in the past and/or trauma during their lives.
‘Looking back, I did not think I would ever work or have a job, I had no confidence, somewhere, deep down I knew I would like a qualification, but I never thought it would happen, it was just not something that I had been brought up to know about or believe was possible.’ (past participant, female)
‘There was no history of third-level [education] in my family; community education opened up that world for me.’ (past participant, female)
The return to education is particularly important as it addresses the potential of a generational aversion to education, which could be passed down from parents to children. This is fostered by the presence of positive role models – the competency, dedication, and lived experience of community education staff are a vital source of inspiration and encouragement to participants, especially lone parents.
‘The tutors and the coordinator were amazing women, amazing role models; they made me see things in myself that I couldn’t see. You know that I had a future even with a young child.’ (current participant, female)
‘The way the tutors facilitated our learning was absolutely fantastic; they listened, encouraged, and were there after class for one-to-one support – we just had to get ourselves to class, and after that, the magic unfolded.’ (current participant, female)
This in turn has a positive ripple effect on their children and wider family relationships. This includes an enhanced capacity to parent and positive role modelling for children, sparking interest in, and excitement about, education, and a lived experience of its value.
‘It changed my view of education, and I am now a role model for my child.’ (past participant, female)
‘It has helped me to appreciate my children, to encourage them, and switch to the use of positive and encouraging language as a mother.’ (past participant, female)
‘My son proudly tells people about how his mammy goes to the school and that his baby sister goes with her.’ (current participant, female)
‘It is not just setting a positive example; my teenager has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and it is a huge barrier for education and her watching me – she can see me getting up every day and going back – at the start of the year there was huge school refusal, and this is changing – she sees I can do it.’ (past participant, female)
‘It was great for my children to see me try to help myself and better myself… They are now talking about going to college and what they want to study.’ (past participant, female)
Progression to Further Education and Employment
This study found that, through engaging with community education programmes, lone parent learners experience personal transformation through feelings of safety and belonging. This, in turn, prepares the ground for their continued engagement and progression to further education, training, paid employment or better paid employment, and community involvement.
‘Community education was a new learning experience for me – I would love someday to do a course in UCC – just learning something – just to enjoy it all.’ (past participant, female)
‘I would not have reached this stage (starting a Master’s degree), if I had not come to [CE provider] I would not be doing what I am doing now.’ (past participant, female)
The findings show the potential and power of targeted employability programmes, designed and provided by community education sites, such as New Futures Employability Programme (One Family) and the Moving On Programme (St Catherine’s Community Services Centre). The results of this research show that community education is playing a role in responding to labour market shortages in areas such as social care[vi], childcare, and special needs assisting, which are the most frequently mentioned careers resulting from community education. This progression also has the power to increase the financial status of a family.
‘I am now financially independent and no longer reliant on social welfare; I am working in a job that I love, and I am thinking of going back to college.’ (past participant, female)
‘Community education changed my life completely and helped me to get work and to earn enough to pay my mortgage.’ (past participant, female)
Challenges of Community Education
The research also draws attention to the main challenges currently faced by community education providers. These include visibility and valuing of community education, funding, accreditation, childcare, digital inclusion and monitoring and metrics to truly capture the impact of community education.
Visibility and Value of Community Education: There is a need to reframe community education as a fully understood, valuable form of education, that fits within the full system of education, in contemporary Ireland. Community education historically has been underdeveloped at a policy level. This presents an opportunity to scale up community education’s power to influence positive change both at individual, family, community, and societal levels.
Funding, Metrics and Monitoring: The research confirms the multiple funding streams that support community education programmes and the challenges of managing the administration relating to each. This includes the variation in applications for funding and the administrative requirements for monitoring returns. There are, therefore, missed metrics and opportunities to gain a more coherent picture of community education, and its power to effect and sustain positive change within communities, as well as within the wider system of education provision within the state.
Accreditation: The third challenge is working with a robust and reliable system of accreditation that is user friendly and efficient. Several sites have made the strategic decision to move from being a standalone Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) centre to being a satellite centre of their local Education and Training Board (ETB) for accreditation of its programmes. Providers reported significant challenges with the QQI accreditation process and the associated arduous administration work. This is particularly true for smaller community organisations with less capacity and resources.
Digital inclusion: Digital inclusion was a challenge for a cohort of learners. Providers have worked to address this by enhancing the learning experience through digital literacy and support, assistive technology, outreach, and technical support. This has led to the development and delivery of courses available to lone parents in rural locations or those otherwise facing challenges in attending in person (such as travel distance or competing caring responsibilities).
Childcare: The findings confirm that access to reliable, good quality childcare is a vital enabler for lone parents to engage in community education and to progress to other forms of participation in education, paid employment, and community involvement. The lack of childcare leads to an inability to participate and, at best, deferral of engagement by lone parents in community education, until children are at school. This challenge is an important one to address particularly in the current context of high levels of child poverty experienced by households headed by lone parents.
Conclusion and Policy Implications
The study shows that community education is effective in supporting lone parents to grow in confidence and self-esteem, and gain the skills necessary to access the labour market. The definitive features of community education in offering psychologically safe spaces, wraparound supports such as childcare, and flexible and accessible learning opportunities, provide a pathway to employment that policymakers should explore and expand. Increasing the numbers of lone parents who can take up education and employment contributes to economic growth, improving the skills base available to employers. It also contributes to social justice and social cohesion, improving social mobility and equality.
The study therefore makes a case for increased funding to strengthen the community education sector and capitalising on the model of community delivery as a safe place for lone parents to begin their return to education.
Overall, the main recommendations of this research are for policymakers and funders to:
- Maximise the power of Community Education to deliver on specific policy commitments, and strengthen related metrics and monitoring.
- Maximise the mental health and wellbeing benefits of participation in community education for lone parents.
- Promote better understanding of the mutuality between community education settings and relevant statutory providers.
- Utilise the power of community education to respond to employment needs and skills gaps.
- Invest in Wraparound Supports for Lone Parents to engage in Community Education.
- Ringfence Free Childcare for Lone Parents.
- Invest in Community Education Staff.
- Recognise the value and power of good role models.
- Recognise the power of community education as part of the suite of family support and interventions to address child poverty.
- Incentivise collaboration and partnership.
Further information on the study, the research reports and case studies of each community education provider is available here: Exploring the Power of Community Education – A research project
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[i] https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/564354b8/Child_Poverty_Budget_2026_Report.pdf
[ii] Beachaire Thematic Report.pdf
[iii] https://a.storyblok.com/f/70398/x/610ecfb10d/fet-strategy-2026-30-report.pdf
[iv] https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/irelands-national-skills-strategy-2025-irelands-future.pdf
[v] Community Employment Programme
[vi] SOLAS Difficult-to-fill vacancies survey (November 2025)