The number of children living in consistent poverty in Ireland has risen to over 100,000, representing a staggering increase of 45,107 children compared to the previous year, according to a new report highlighting the deepening crisis facing Irish families.
The alarming statistics emerge from the Children’s Rights Alliance’s annual Child Poverty Monitor report, which reveals that children remain the demographic most vulnerable to poverty in Irish society.
The data shows that over a quarter of a million children experienced “enforced deprivation” in 2024, meaning one in every five children was living in households unable to afford basic necessities considered essential for a decent standard of living, including items as fundamental as winter coats or new shoes.
The poverty crisis is compounded by housing pressures, with almost one in four children at risk of poverty growing up in overcrowded households. This overcrowding disproportionately affects low-income families, creating additional stress on already vulnerable children.
The overall at-risk-of-poverty rate for children increased from 14.3 percent in 2023 to 15.3 percent in 2024, representing an additional 12,955 children living in households with incomes below 60 percent of the median income level. This reverses a positive trend that had seen child poverty rates decline between 2021 and 2023.
Food insecurity has emerged as a particularly concerning issue. The report reveals that single-parent households face significantly greater challenges in providing adequate nutrition, with 8 percent of households with one adult and one to three children unable to afford meat, chicken, or fish every other day, compared to just 0.9 percent of two-adult households with children.
A new phenomenon dubbed “holiday hunger” has also emerged as families that depend on free hot school meals struggle to feed their children adequately during school holidays. This issue has developed despite government progress toward universal hot school meal provision by 2030.
The report notes that since tracking began in 2022, there has been a dramatic increase in the cost of basic essentials, putting additional pressure on already struggling families.
Social welfare support appears inadequate, with only one-quarter of households receiving social welfare benefits having what the report considers an adequate source of income from these supports. The analysis suggests government focus on lump sum payments and one-off supplements rather than systematic increases in overall support levels may have contributed to this inadequacy.
Tanya Ward, CEO of the Children’s Rights Alliance, called for immediate government intervention in response to the findings. “These are children for whom a decent standard of living and aspirations of a better future diminish day by day. This poverty is not inevitable. Policy decisions and budget investments determine the fate of these children and young people,” she stated.
Ward acknowledged some government progress, including the introduction of universal measures such as free school books, extension of the hot school meal scheme, free GP care for children under eight, and significant childcare investment.
However, she emphasized that these broad measures have come at the expense of targeted interventions needed to address structural poverty. “These have come at the expense of the targeted measures and strategic investment that are critical to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty our children are inheriting. Budget 2026 has to focus on breaking the cycle,” Ward said.
The report’s findings underscore the complex nature of child poverty in Ireland, where despite overall economic growth and some positive policy measures, vulnerable children continue to face deepening hardship that affects their immediate wellbeing and long-term prospects.
The data suggests that while universal supports have provided some relief, they have not been sufficient to address the underlying causes of child poverty, particularly for the most vulnerable families including single-parent households and those in precarious housing situations.