News Story

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that the Government “need to do more” to combat child poverty, after an increase of almost 30,000 children in households living below the poverty line.

Speaking at the Fianna Fáil think-in in Tullamore, Co Offaly, on Tuesday, Mr Martin said he hopes for raises in child support payments in this year’s budget, similar to increases last year.

Mr Martin said: “We can do more, we need to do more to ease child poverty.

“The record increases in child support payments last year were significant.

“We want to do something similar this year.

“I think they are impactful in respect to reducing child poverty.”

Mr Martin said he has a unit in his department focused on child poverty.

He said it is looking at measures like the Working Family Payment, Fuel Poverty Allowance and Back to School Clothing Allowance ahead of this year’s budget.

He added: “There’s a whole series of measures we can do.

“To me, it’s a priority. I’m going to keep a very strong focus on it, and particularly in the context of this budget, we’ll be doing more measures.”

Research published by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) suggests that one in 10 Irish children are deprived of basic necessities as the country sees a sharp rise in child poverty, despite a strong growth in average incomes.

The research shows that the number of children in households below the poverty line, defined as having less than 60% of median household income, rose to 200,000 in 2024, an increase of almost 30,000 children from the year previous.

The key findings, published in partnership with Community Foundation Ireland, shows that the increase in child poverty was larger after housing costs were accounted for, rising by 40,000 to 260,000 children.

The rise in child poverty was particularly pronounced for families with young children, increasing from 20.8% to 26.6% for families whose youngest child was aged up to five years old when housing costs were accounted for but falling from 12.4% to 10.1% for families whose youngest child was aged over 11.

The research shows that the Government is “very far” from meeting its target for reducing child poverty to 3% by 2030.

This target is defined as the share of children who are both below the poverty line, before housing costs are accounted for, and experiencing material deprivation which is an inability to afford two or more essential goods and services.

Using this definition, child poverty currently stands at 8%.

“Additionally, this measure fails to capture a large number of children who experience material deprivation but have incomes just above the poverty line, meaning it fails to capture many of those facing high housing costs,” the report said.

It added that new policy measures will be needed for the Government to meet its official child poverty target.

The report called for a means-tested second tier of Child Benefit which it said would reduce child poverty more effectively than increasing existing supports.

“This is because many low-income families with children are not eligible for or do not take up existing means-tested supports and so do not benefit from increases to these supports,” it added.

In 2024, 10% of children under 16 were deprived on a child-specific deprivation indicator, which includes items such as being able to take part in school trips, regular leisure activities, or new clothes.

Children in large families, in jobless households or living in supported rental housing were more likely to experience child-specific deprivation.

There is clear evidence that families prioritise the needs of children, the report found.

“Even when the household is materially deprived or on a low income, the majority did not report child-specific deprivation.

“However, shielding children is harder for some families and a substantial minority of children under 16 in income-poor families experienced child-specific deprivation.”

In 2024, 9% of children under the age of 16 experienced both child-specific deprivation and household deprivation.

In these households, parents lacked the resources to shield their children from material hardship.

These children were more likely to live in lone-parent families, households with weak labour market attachment and migrant families.

Despite the rise in child poverty, household incomes grew faster at the top than the middle or bottom of the income distribution between 2023 and 2024.

Incomes grew by more than 7% for the top 10th of households compared to 3% for the bottom half.

Dr Barra Roantree, assistant professor at Trinity College Dublin and a co-author of the report, said: “Our findings suggest that it is important to account for housing costs in the measurement of child poverty, something the Government’s official 2030 target does not do.

“Regardless of how it is measured, it is clear that new policy measures, such as a second tier of child benefit, will be needed if the Government is to come close to meeting this target.”