‘Stay-At-Home Parents Deserve Proper Wages, Not Token Cheques’ – Nickie Vella de Fremeaux
Lawyer Nickie Vella de Fremeaux urged the government to recognise the important role played by stay-at-home parents and offer them a proper wage.
Vella de Fremeaux described the €500 increase in child bonuses that was announced in the 2026 Budget as “insulting”.
“Child-bearing has now become a government raffle,” she said. “Handing out a ‘bonus’ for having a child reduces the family to nothing but a transaction.”
“Parenthood – and good parenting at that – is not a prize to be won.”
“Let’s be factual. It is the lifelong responsibility of parenting that deserves constant and real support and not token cheques for the birth of a child.”
“When will any ‘budget’ recognise that a stay-at-home parent deserves real financial recognition in the form of a proper wage or other meaningful income to make them financially independent of their spouse or partner.”
“This is hardly rocket science for the ultimate overtime ‘job’, which which consists of doing everything, every day without pay, sick leave or days off, yet goes unrecognised and unpaid.”
She warned that the financial dependence of stay-at-home parents on their partners is demeaning, discriminatory, and could leave them vulnerable if the relationship breaks down.
Cover photo left: Nickie Vella de Fremeaux