Child-related benefits lift 150,000 children out of poverty, ESRI finds

Irish Times

a day ago

Child-related social benefits have lifted more than 150,000 children out of poverty in
Ireland
, according to the
Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)
.
It found Ireland's current system of offering child-related cash and in-kind benefits had reduced child poverty and deprivation, bringing an estimated 157,000 children out of income poverty and 94,000 out of consistent poverty.
The study, published on Wednesday, is part of the ESRI's Budget Perspectives 2026 series.
According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), consistent poverty is defined as that applying to individuals who are at risk of poverty – meaning they have a low household income – and experience enforced deprivation.
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The figures come shortly after the
Children's Rights Alliance revealed
the number of children in consistent poverty rose by 45,000 to more than 103,000 in 2024. Last week, a
separate longitudinal survey
of children in Ireland aged between 10 and 17 found 18.3 per cent were going to school or bed hungry because there was not enough food at home.
Cash benefits such as Child Benefit and Working Families Payment are considered by the study, as well as in-kind benefits such as National Childcare Scheme subsidies and free schoolbooks and meals.
Taking all of these into account, the simulated child consistent poverty rate was found to be 5.6 per cent. In the absence of such supports, however, the child consistent poverty rate would be 8 per cent higher, at 13.6 per cent.
The predicted child At Risk of Poverty (AROP) rate for 2025 is 13.9 per cent, or about 165,000 children. In the absence of cash benefits, that would be 10 per cent higher, while an absence of in-kind benefits – such as free preschool and school meals – would increase the AROP rate by 1.5 per cent.
ESRI associate research professor Karina Doorley, one of the report's authors, said child-related benefits were 'a powerful tool' in reducing poverty.
'Well-targeted reforms to the system of child-related benefits could further improve outcomes for children and families currently experiencing poverty. A second tier of child benefit could be a key part of that solution,' she said.
The ESRI's proposed second tier of means-tested child benefit would reduce the child AROP rate by 4.6 percentage points (lifting 55,000 children out of income poverty) and consistent poverty by 2.1 percentage points (lifting 25,000 children out of consistent poverty), it said.
It suggested this as the 'most cost-effective option' for targeting child poverty rates, at an annual cost of approximately €772 million.