Children of renters have much higher rates of deprivation than those who live in owner-occupied homes

Research shows 13.8% of children under 16 experienced material deprivation in 2024, up from 12.6% in 2021.

More than a third of renters now cannot afford a one-week family holiday for their children, four times higher than the rate among parents who own their own home, at 8.6%.

Research from the Central Statistics Office also shows 31.1% of children who live in rented accommodation experienced material deprivation in 2024, up from 28.3% in 2021. The comparable rates for children living in owner-occupied households was much lower, at 3.7% in 2024 and 2.8% in 2021.

Single-parent households, households that rent, had no Irish-born parent, or working adult were more likely to experience child deprivationhttps://t.co/GBlST6fQCC #CSOIreland #Ireland #SILC #EUSILC #SocialInclusion #PovertyIndicator #PovertyRate #Deprivation #EnforcedDeprivation pic.twitter.com/0AJsxOu5Os

— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) May 8, 2025

Overall, 13.8% of children under 16 experienced material deprivation in 2024, up from 12.6% in 2021, the research shows.

One in 20 households who rented were unable to afford new clothes for their children, compared with 0.6% of owner-occupied households.

Many single-parent households were also found to be struggling, with 12.1% unable to afford regular leisure activities for their children, like swimming, playing an instrument, or youth organisation membership. The comparable rate for two-parent households was 4.3%.

Immigrants also suffer disproportionately from poverty, with 17.1% of households without an Irish-born parent unable to afford to pay for regular leisure activities for their children, compared with 2.1% of households with at least one Irish-born parent.

Overall, 5.7% of households with no Irish-born parent could not afford to invite friends of their children around to play or eat from time to time, compared with less than 1% of households with at least one Irish-born parent.

More than half (54.9%) of households with no working adult were unable to afford a one-week holiday for their children. This compares with 26.0% of households with one working adult and 10% of households with two working adults.

Of households with no working adults, 8.5% were unable to buy new clothes for their children, compared to 0.5% of households with two working adults.

More than half (54.2%) of children in households where nobody worked in 2024 experienced material deprivation, more than double the rate (24.4%) for children living in households with one worker and almost 15 times higher than the rate for children living in households with two workers (3.7%).