23-05-2025
‘Crucial' €50 Child Benefit hike alert with €190 ‘more money in pocket' Budget 2026 demand after 9 years of no increases
IRELAND'S monthly €140 Child Benefit payment must be hiked by €50 to address alarming levels of child poverty, a think tank has said.
The universal payment, which is of particular value to the thousands of Irish families struggling on the lowest incomes, has not been increased since 2016.
Social Justice Ireland last year
And the independent think tank today confirmed it will again be asking for a €50 increase in the universal payment rate in Budget 2026.
Susanne Rogers, a Research and Policy Analyst with the organisation, told The Irish Sun: "Social Justice Ireland will be calling on the government to introduce a higher payment rate of
"The rapid increase in prices in the past few years has posed particular challenges for low-income households throughout Ireland.
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Last year, the government set itself a mission to tackle child poverty, but Rogers has pointed out that hundreds of thousands of Irish children are still living in households experiencing poverty.
Figures published in the CSO SILC data revealed that just over 844,700 people
Rogers said: "Child Benefit hasn't been increased since 2016 despite
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"A €50 increase is required in Child Benefit to address Ireland's level of child poverty."
Minister Heather Humphreys backs quadrupling child benefit payment
The increase would mean
Social Justice Ireland also said the
The cash is an extra amount for a child provided to parents who are already on social welfare.
The payment is currently €50 at the full rate for children under 12 and €62 at the full rate for children who are aged over 12.
INFLATION IMPACT ON POORER HOUSEHOLDS
Rogers explained: "Fundamentally, child poverty cannot be separated from the poverty experienced by the families to which children belong.
"Had Government been serious about tackling child poverty, it would have addressed income adequacy, housing, education and health."
The expert also explained that, although the CSO shows all households are experiencing significant price increases, the impact of inflation is greatest for the bottom 20 per cent of people.
She said: Given that these lower income households spend a greater proportion of their income compared to better off households, they have been more exposed to price increases.
"They also spend a greater proportion of their income on areas that experienced significant price increases like food, housing and energy."
CHILD BENEFIT PAYMENT DATES
CHILD Benefit will be paid out six more times before the end of the year.
The universal cash is typically paid out on the first Tuesday of each month, but may be paid out earlier at times due to bank holidays.
3rd June - may be paid early due to June Bank Holiday
1st July
5th August - may be paid early due to August Bank Holiday
2nd September
7th October
4th November
And Rogers said that measures targeting households impacted most by inflation are necessary to reduce child poverty, with Child Benefit being "of particular value to those families on the lowest incomes".
She explained: "Our long-standing failure as a society to adequately engage with the issue of child poverty, and drive substantial and permanent reductions in it, is building long-term problems.
"Given the slow and limited progress achieved by many previous anti-poverty strategies, it is crucial that anti-child poverty ambitions translate into actual measures that put more income in the pockets of poorer families and make the public services they rely on more readily available and more affordable.
"Child poverty is essentially an issue of low income families and child poverty solutions hinge on issues such as adequate adult welfare rates, decent rates of pay and conditions for working parents, and adequate and available public services.
"Child benefit also remains a key route to tackling child poverty."
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Child Benefit is currently €140 per child each month
Credit: Getty Images
