Irish children aged up to 15 are more likely than their European counterparts to be at risk of poverty before social transfers kick in, a report published by the Department of Children has said.
Minister Roderic O'Gorman on Thursday published a statistical spotlight report on economic security and opportunity which found that nearly four in 10 young people are at risk of poverty before social transfers are factored in. In total, 38.5% of children were at risk in Ireland in 2022 compared to 33.3% in Europe.
Social transfers are made up social benefits that households receive to address a particular risk or need such as child benefit, disability benefit and also the Social Contributions that households pay. For young people aged 18-24-years-old, about the same proportion are at risk of poverty before social transfers in Ireland (33.6% in 2022) as in Europe on average.
The report also found that 22.9% of under-15s in Ireland were at risk after the social transfers kicked in, slightly lower than the European average of 23.6%. Ireland had the eighth lowest rate of young people (aged 16 to 24) at risk of poverty or social exclusion after social transfers in Europe, with 18.8% of young people at risk in 2022, compared to the European average of 26.8%.
The report's authors say that the data shows that "we can see that the inclusion of social transfers has decreased the amount of children and young people at risk of poverty or social exclusion, particularly in the older cohort".
In education, Irish young people (3.7% in 2022) are less likely to become early leavers of education and training compared to young people generally in Europe (8.8%) with a high level of youth employment recorded. In 2022, 49.8% of 15-24-year-olds were employed compared to 40.0% in Europe (2018-2022).
Ireland had a low level of youth unemployment in 2022. Among 20-24-year-olds in Ireland, 8.2% were unemployed, 5.8 percentage points lower than the European average of 14.2% (2019-2022).
However, children and young people in Ireland aged up to 17 (10.4% in 2022) are more likely to live in jobless households compared to the rest of Europe (7.5%, 2022).
In Ireland, 18% of 0-17-year-olds lived in homes with a leaking roof, damp walls, or foundations, or rot in the window frames or in the floor in 2020, slightly higher than the European average of 16.4% (2018-2020).
Mr O'Gorman said: “One of the five national outcomes in Young Ireland, the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People 2023-2028, is for children and young people to have economic security and opportunity.
"Today’s report provides us with key data on how our young people are faring in relation to this outcome, by looking at areas such as employment, poverty rates, and material and social deprivation, and comparing Ireland’s performance with our European neighbours.
"I am happy to note that Ireland has seen improvements in the majority of indicators discussed in this report in recent years. This report will inform the ongoing implementation of the Young Ireland policy framework.”