One in five under-fives in jobless households

Ireland has the EU’s highest proportion of young children in homes where nobody is working, creating a risk of further generational poverty and educational disadvantage.

The Department of Education is already stretched to finance enough classrooms and teachers for Europe’s proportionately second-biggest child population. But the need for extra resources in schools could rise further, based on latest figures in relation to the social background of future primary pupils.

The numbers here aged under-six make up just under 10% of the population, lower only than the figure in Turkey, according to a European Commission report on early childhood education and care (ECEC). And of all Irish homes in which those children aged five or younger live, one in five has nobody working.

This is the highest jobless rate for households with under-sixes in the EU and almost double the 11% average across 28 nations. Only seven countries have more children in this age group at risk of poverty or social exclusion. A report to Education Minister Ruairi Quinn from the National Council for Special Education this week recommends that the way teachers should support pupils with disabilities and learning difficulties must be partly based on the social context of each school, meaning the schools those children attend should get more support teachers.

The commission report said children were not just at risk of poverty if they lived in a home affected by unemployment, but their chances at school may also be affected.

Quality ECEC is an essential building block for economic and social fulfilment and mobility later in life.”

Taoiseach Enda Kenny this week said that the fact that over half of jobless households in Ireland had children was unacceptable, as the cycle of joblessness and welfare dependency would be perpetuated if the situation was not addressed. That statistic emerged from a National Economic and Social Council report showing almost one in four Irish homes are jobless, over twice the average in 15 EU countries.

The EU report also highlights how Ireland has the highest monthly fees for childcare and pre-school. It was also still one of just two countries with no minimum qualifications needed to work with younger children.