Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 January 2016
17. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the policy measures she is taking to address the drastic level of child poverty and the large percentage of children experiencing social deprivation; if it is a fact that child poverty has significantly worsened under this Government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42948/15]
View answerThe CSO Survey on Income and living Conditions for 2014 shows that 11.2 per cent of children were in consistent poverty, a slight but not statistically significant decrease on the 2013 rate of 11.7 per cent. In the period since the economic crisis (2009-2014), the average rate of child poverty was 9.9 per cent. This compares with an average rate of 8.7 per cent in the years preceding the crisis (2005-2008), an increase of 1.2 per cent.
A key driver in preventing poverty among children is social transfers, such as welfare payments and child benefit. In 2014, social transfers reduced the at-risk-of-poverty rate for children from 44.6 per cent to 18.6 per cent, thereby lifting a quarter of all children out of income poverty.
Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures: the national policy framework for children and young people 2014-2020, published by my colleague the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in 2014 and approved by Government includes a specific target to reduce child poverty by two-thirds by 2020. Meeting this target means lifting upwards of 100,000 children out of poverty. Under Better Outcomes, Better Futures, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in collaboration with Departments such as my own and other relevant government departments is taking a whole-of-government approach to tackling child poverty.
In Budget 2016, the Government committed over €200 million to support families with children by increasing child benefit and FIS rates and by investing in the provision of childcare. The social impact assessment of the Budget, published by the Department of Social Protection, shows that families will gain up to 2 per cent in average household income. Finally, a key way to tackle child poverty is to help unemployed families to take-up work and to improve the rewards from work. Government employment policies, such as Pathways to Work and the Action Plan on Jobs , along with income supports such as the family income supplement and the back to work family dividend, are clearly working in this regard.
