'Almost 100,000 children in Ireland in consistent poverty’

Junior leaders at YMCA Dublin Filip (16) and Summer (17) were joined by Children's Rights Alliance chief executive Tanya Ward, Senator Eileen Flynn, and Moninne Griffith, Community Foundation Ireland director of social impact, donor care & grant making for the launch of the fifth Child Poverty Monitor. Picture: Julien Behal

Thu, 11 Jun, 2026 - 01:00

Alex Cunningham

Almost 100,000 children in Ireland lived in consistent poverty in 2025, according to a report compiled by the Children’s Rights Alliance.

The report found that a further 206,202 children are at risk of falling below the poverty line, the highest number of any age cohort in Ireland.

The report, Child Poverty Monitor 2026, was based on the Central Statistics Office’s (CSO) Survey on Income and Living Conditions.

“The latest child poverty figures show over 95,000 children in Ireland are growing up in consistent poverty,” said Children’s Rights Alliance chief executive Tanya Ward.

“The deepening housing crisis is driving the rates of poverty up — eating up household incomes and disrupting any sense of stability and security these families are fighting to hold on to.”

The number of children experiencing homelessness has risen from 3,028 in May 2022 to 5,604 in April 2026.

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While the percentage of children living in enforced deprivation and consistent poverty decreased from 2024 levels, the number of children at risk of poverty has increased.

In all three categories, children were over-represented compared to the general population.

Last year, Taoiseach Micheál Martin and social protection minister Dara Calleary announced aims to reduce the rate of consistent child poverty to 3% by 2030. Currently, 7.8% of the child population hits that threshold. In Budget 2026, the Government introduced child support payment increases of €16 for children over 12 and €8 for those under 12, bringing the current rates to €78 and €58 per week, respectively.

The Child Poverty Monitor expressed concern that the net benefit of child support payment increases may be wiped away by the removal of one-off cost-of-living measures in Budget 2027.

The report called for a move to increase child support payments by 20% for over-12s and a minimum of 10% for under-12s over four budgets.