Families living in poverty benefited financially in this year’s budget, it emerged today.

Gordon Brown has made it into a list of the world’s 100 sexiest men, with the top place handed to Take That.

GORDON Brown has made it into a list of the world’s 100 sexiest men — with the top place handed to Take That.

IMPROVED access to financial services could help people on low incomes to avoid the poverty trap.

A LOT more could have been done in the Budget to make a real difference to the lives of Ireland’s poorest children and pensioners, campaign groups claimed last night.

Putting a nutritious meal on the table is costing families on social welfare up to 80% of their weekly income, it was claimed today.

REPORTS, strategies and action plans on ways to reduce poverty prepared by the Government must be implemented if we are ever to really help the country’s poor, the Combat Poverty Agency (CPA) said yesterday.

The country’s leading anti-poverty agency has demanded a complete change in the Government's attitude if Ireland is to meet its targets in reducing poverty.

ALMOST one-in-five people in Ireland are at risk of poverty as they live on less than €185 per week.

MORE than 100,000 children have been removed from living in poverty over the past decade as a result of targeted Government action, the Minister for Social Affairs Seamus Brennan claimed yesterday.

More than 250,000 men, women and children have been lifted out of the poverty trap in the last decade, a Government minister claimed today.

HOLLYWOOD legend Audrey Hepburn has topped a list of the 100 most beautiful women of all time.

MEANINGFUL targets for reducing inequalities in healthcare must be set to prevent people in poverty becoming ill more often and dying early, a conference heard yesterday.

Meaningful targets for reducing inequalities in healthcare must be set to prevent people in poverty becoming ill more often and dying early, a conference heard today.

THE amount of children living in consistent poverty would fill Croke Park almost twice over, according to a new report.

Tax breaks for the rich need to be overhauled so that the poor get more benefits from the tax system, the Combat Poverty Agency said today.

THE structural causes behind poverty must be urgently addressed in the upcoming social partnership discussions, it was warned yesterday.

THE Government has been accused of “watering down” promises on mixed housing as new research shows that the risk of poverty is more than five times greater for local authority tenants than for people living in private dwellings.

People living in local authority housing are five times more likely to face poverty than any other group and their situation is worsening, a survey by the Combat Poverty agency revealed today.

Local authority tenants face a much higher than average risk of poverty and deprivation and their position is worsening, a report is set to reveal today.

MINISTER for Social Affairs Séamus Brennan yesterday promised to urgently deal with the “unacceptable” level of child poverty in Ireland.

State aid towards childcare and health services for families with children is among the lowest in the EU, leaving thousands stuck in the poverty cycle, it was warned today.

FAMILIES with an income of up to €40,000 a year are now among the new poor, according to the Department of Social and Family Affairs.

Far from enjoying an extravagant lifestyle, double income families can now often be numbered among the new poor, such is the economic reality in the Ireland of today.

By Evelyn Ring

The State advisory agency on poverty asked the Government today for an increase in social welfare rates and child income support.

IRELAND’S increasing income gap is creating a very divided society, the Combat Poverty Agency warned yesterday.

Combat Poverty has said it is hoping for a flat rate increase of between €10 to €15 on social welfare payments in this year's Budget.

ALMOST 170,000 children live in poverty, with one in 16 lacking basic necessities such as food, clothes and heating.

Major reforms are needed to close the widening gap between the country's rich and poor, a state-sponsored body warned today.

ANTI-POVERTY groups have sharply criticised the new Government-backed national action plan to tackle poverty and social exclusion, launched yesterday by Social and Family Affairs Minister Mary Coughlan.

ALMOST 6,000 people die prematurely in Ireland every year because of poverty and inequality, the Institute of Public Health director said yesterday.

NO family should have to live like this today - adults struggling on €124 a week with just €50 for each child.

COMBAT Poverty called on the Government yesterday to bring in a minimum 150 euro weekly social welfare payment in the next Budget.

Combat Poverty has warned that the downturn in the Irish economy will pose a major challenge to the Government’s efforts to help disadvantaged sections of society.

ONE IN FIVE people in this country is living below the poverty line, a report will reveal next week.