AS I SEE IT
BY MARIANNE HERON
The issue of child poverty has been hitting the headlines recently but what lies behind those two words? There are questions that demand answers. Why have the numbers involved increased despite promises made in the last 10 years and why in one of the world’s richest countries 45,000 children still need to be lifted out of consistent poverty?
For children growing up in poverty can be a life sentence and it shouldn’t be.
When its causes are not addressed poverty can be a repeating cycle. Children do poorly in education, have poorer health and go on get low paid jobs and end up in poverty, defined by incomes that are below 60% of the mean wage and where families suffer relative deprivation, unable to afford a number of things from a list of essentials like adequate food, clothing or heating.
They simply don’t have an adequate standard of living.
There is no mystery about which families are most at risk, according to studies. The list includes working families on low wages, those with poor education, single families, those belonging to minority groups like Travellers or Roma, and where a parent has disability or homelessness.
According to the CSO, there were 257,000 children living in poverty in 2023.
The odds are often stacked against these families and their ability to escape poverty. The cost of child care is a huge barrier, so too is affordable housing, access to training and the labour market, particularly where a parent with disability is involved. The early cut-off point for benefits when a parent earns above a certain point is a push back to poverty.
Supports like the introduction of free school meals and books have helped. Deis schools with additional supports for deprived areas and the Equal Start programme, to provide access and support for early learning care and school age children for disadvantaged families, are just some of the initiatives but child poverty numbers have gone up rather than down.
There are no lack of solutions or ideas, what is lacking is a sense of urgency and ambition when it comes to getting to grips with child poverty in real terms, according to the Children’s Rights Alliance which represents 160 organisations. The 10-year-old Alliance, which runs a child poverty monitor, wants the upcoming Budget to close the gap where years of inadequate income supports have left children in poverty.
The St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP) experienced a massive increase in requests for assistance during the cost of living and fuel crisis. “But the figures are still so much higher than they were in 2021,” says Louise Bayliss, the society’s spokesperson for social policy. “Child poverty has gone up from 4.8% in 2023 to 8.5% in 2024.”
SVP had 253,000 requests for assistance last year. Their research found that, while child poverty in two parent families was 6%, it was 11% in lone parent families.
SVP had 19 poverty proofing proposals for Budget 26.” The child support allowance is inadequate” comments Louise. “It only supports 88% of the needs of 5-12 year olds and only 64% of those over 12 and this needs to be brought up to and adequate level. “The fuel allowance hasn’t kept up with energy prices particularly since the one off energy credit have been dropped and should be brought up by €9.50.” The income disregard, which allows welfare recipients to earn up to a certain level before they lose benefits, also needs to be raised.
The Government are now promising to reduce child poverty from 8.5% to 3% or less by 2030. Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary appears determined to make a difference with a holistic approach via a cross -departmental child poverty unit in the Department of the Taoiseach. The intention is to enhance supports for lone parents, welfare recipients and working-poor families together with increased social protections payments including child support programmes.
Will the promises translate into effective action, though, given the competing financial demands faced in the Budget? The poorest and weakest in tend to fall down towards the bottom of a list of priorities.
Looking at countries which have had most success in lifting children out of poverty, like New Zealand and Scotland, the fact that they have child poverty Acts to hold politicians accountable seems to make a difference.
Maybe we need one here. Children shouldn’t suffer cold and hunger in a rich country…
