There is a need to enforce maintenance payments, in order to help combat child deprivation among lone parent families.
That's according to one advocacy group, after CSO figures showed more than one in ten single-parent households were unable to afford two pairs of properly fitting shoes for their children.
That compares to 1% for two parent households.
Louise Bayliss from SPARK says the government needs to act:
"We're one of the few countries in the OECD that doesn't have a statutory maintenance agency- there's no enforcement of maintenance. We had a maintenance review group that published a report back in April. It's sitting on the minister's desk since last April, that would make a huge difference. We know maintenance can be a real leveller in lone parent household if child maintenance was taken into account."
