High child poverty rate in Ireland, study shows

A new ESRI report has shown that real household incomes in Ireland have declined, as well as a high child poverty rate.

According to the report, living standards have stagnated. This is down to many aggravating factors, but the report attributes this to a disposable income decline.

The report, called Poverty, Income Inequality and Living Standards in Ireland: Fifth Annual Report, shows how rapid inflation and geopolitical crisis have squeezed household finances.

When it comes to child poverty rates, one in five (225,000) children are said to live below the poverty line, once housing costs are taken into account. This has caused Ireland to rank 16th out of 27 EU countries for after-housing-costs poverty, worse than the EU average.

The report also found that over 227,000 children in Ireland live in households that can't afford basic necessities, with the deprivation rate for children under 17 sitting at 20 per cent.

The report focused on the link between growing up in poverty and the long-lasting impact towards adulthood. It found that adults aged 25-59 who grew up in poverty are 15 percentage points more likely to experience deprivation in adulthood.

In terms of solutions, the ESRI highlighted introducing a means tested second tier of Child Benefit costing €772 million, and this may reduce child poverty by 4.6 percentage points, taking more than 50,000 children out of poverty.

Denise Charlton, Chief Executive of the Community Foundation Ireland, said: “With child poverty rates approaching levels last seen in the darkest days of the economic crash, we are in a moment where our country faces important policy choices... A second-tier child benefit is a price worth paying, not just for the immediate benefits but the opportunity it offers to end the cycle of intergenerational poverty.”