EU figures: Rise in child poverty

CHILD poverty in Ireland has risen, according to the latest EU figures.

The Children’s Rights Alliance says that the latest available figures from the EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), show that between 2004 and 2005 child poverty rose by almost 1% in Ireland, when increases in the population were accounted for.

The figures show that in Ireland more than 110,000 children under 18 years old (one-in-nine) were living in consistent poverty, an increase of nearly 13,000 children. It also estimated that 240,000 children, nearly one-in-four, were at risk of experiencing poverty.