More than 5,000 lone parents will lose their One Family Payment from today. Throughout the year, a total of 9,000 families will lose the entitlement.
And by July next year, almost 60,000 families will have lost the scheme when their youngest child turns 7.
Advocates groups are calling on the Social Protection Minister Joan Burton not to proceed with the cuts.
SPARK (Single Parent Acting for the Rights of Kids) say there have been 800 after-school childcare places provided for all low income families, "and this is nowhere near the requirement needed to assist the 60,000 effected families".
They add that the changes being introduced "have a drastic financial impact on working lone parents and no financial impact on non working lone parents".
The group says in a statement "We completely disagree that cutting working lone parents income is a way to improve the outcome for children in lone parent families. There has been no additional training or employment supports being provided for lone parents, there is no childcare so we can avail of jobs bridge and we are actively hampered by our exclusion to the Jobs plus grant available to other job seekers".
They say without an affordable childcare system in place, many working lone parents will not be able to sustain these financial losses "and will be forced out of the workforce".
SPARK spokesperson is Leah Speight.
