More than 236,000 children experiencing poverty in Ireland 

The Children's Rights Alliance report found more children are living in consistent poverty than any other age group in Ireland.

More than 236,000 children are experiencing poverty while almost 3,600 children have had their worlds “turned upside-down” due to homelessness, according to the Children’s Rights Alliance (CRA).

The CRA launched its Child Poverty Monitor 2023, which tracked Government progress and action to address child poverty in 2022 and found more children are living in consistent poverty than any other age group in Ireland.

CRA chief executive Tanya Ward said the number of children in poverty is more than the entire population of Kilkenny and Waterford combined “for whom poverty is seeping into every aspect of their life”.

For these children, it can mean going to bed hungry several nights a week, sleeping in coats during the winter because the heating is off or going to school with shoes that are painfully too small.” 

Ms Ward said the number of children experiencing homelessness continues to meet and exceed record figures every month and today, there are 3,594 children homeless.

“These are 3,594 children whose worlds have been turned upside-down or totally uprooted. Our greatest concern is that the urgency to respond to the crisis begins to dissipate the longer it goes on.

“The ending of the eviction ban pulled a rug out from beneath many families who are now desperately worried about where their children will sleep or how they will get them to school,” she said.

The CRA urged the Government to consider “the detrimental impact” the housing crisis is having on young children and put the necessary supports in place to attempt to minimise the long-lasting effects by increasing funding for dedicated child and family workers.

Children’s Rights Alliance chief executive Tanya Ward.

“Homelessness blights childhoods but child support workers can help provide children and families direct support at the most difficult time in their lives,” Ms Ward said.

For children and families experiencing poverty, the recent increase in social welfare payments was simply not enough to help keep them afloat, with rapid rises elsewhere due to the cost-of-living crisis, Ms Ward said, adding families dependent on social welfare with two children are short a “staggering” €93 per week.

This leaves families with impossible decisions between eating or heating, with many parents reporting going without in order to ensure their children have dinner that night or lights on to study for exams.”

Ms Ward said last year’s budget increased the Qualified Child payment — a payment made to families already dependent on social welfare  — by just €2 for all children.

She added these increases did not keep up with the pace of inflation and as a result, families do not have enough money to deal with everyday basics.

Ms Ward said income measures alone are not enough to turn the dial on poverty, but they cannot be ignored in Budget 2024.

“The cost of essentials such as milk and bread have increased by 19.7% and 15.5% respectively. The introduction of measures like free school books at primary school is a really important measure to help with the cost of living as it helps put money back in families' pockets. 

"At the same time, targeting increases towards the families on the lowest income is critical now,” she said.

Although welcoming Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys' plans to expand hot school meals to all schools by 2030, Ms Ward said there is currently a “serious issue” with the quality of the food in the school meals programme due to rates paid being too low.

Ms Ward said investing in early years was the most effective approach the Government could take to break the cycle of poverty, noting there is no Deis-type early years programme “even though it’s the most important leveller”.

The CRA is now calling for Budget 2024 to be a children’s budget, saying Budget 2023 failed to deliver sufficiently for the poorest children and young people living under the weight of poverty.