Child Poverty in Ireland

The household survey data on which this study primarily relies is drawn from the 1994 and 1997 rounds of the Living in Ireland Survey.

In chapter 2, these surveys are used to provide an up-dated picture of the extent of relative income poverty for Irish children, and to compare this with earlier results available for 1987, 1980 and 1973 analysed in depth in Nolan and Farrell (1990).

Chapter 3 seeks to put such relative income poverty rates for Irish children in comparative perspective.

Chapter 4 aims to pin-point the factors at work behind the way poverty rates have evolved for children versus adults. It focuses on the role of falling unemployment rates and the relationship between social welfare rates and average incomes.

Chapter 5 is concerned with what non-monetary indicators of deprivation can tell us about the households in which children live.

Chapter 6 assesses the implications of income poverty dynamics for the living standards of households with children.

Chapter 7 looks at the potential non-monetary indicators have for capturing the living standards of children, and discusses more broadly some issues relating to the measurement and monitoring of child well being.

Finally, chapter 8 brings together the main findings of the study, discusses how the continuation of rapid economic growth since 1997 may have affected the extent and nature of child poverty in Ireland, and brings out key issues for policy in terms of child income support.