Families on low incomes in Ireland have been less able to convert household income into an adequate standard of living compared with those in Northern Ireland, according to new research by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
The ESRI compared child poverty and related factors as well as policy measures in Ireland and Northern Ireland between 2004 and 2023.
It said the findings could be attributable to a higher cost of living in Ireland.
The research found that children living in lone-parent households, larger families, and households with a disabled member faced significantly higher risks of poverty in both jurisdictions.
Other groups at higher risk were children leaving care, children from the Traveller and Roma communities and those from families seeking asylum.
The ESRI used two measures of poverty during the study: income poverty, which means having a household disposable income that is less than 60% of median income, and material deprivation, which occurs when families are unable to afford at least two of five basic essentials like paying their bills on time or keeping their home warm.
Over the period 2004 to 2023, child income poverty declined quite consistently in Ireland while rates fluctuated more in Northern Ireland.
Throughout the period, income poverty rates remained higher in Northern Ireland, finishing at about 21% on average in 2021-2023 compared to around 14% in Ireland.
However, Ireland and Northern Ireland showed a much more similar trend in child material deprivation, which followed the pattern of economic boom and recession that characterised much of the period.
Between 2010-2023, child material deprivation rates were higher in Ireland than in Northern Ireland, however, in 2022-2023, deprivation in Northern Ireland rose to the same level as that in Ireland when it was 24% in both jurisdictions.
Household joblessness
Household joblessness was a bigger risk factor for child poverty in Ireland than in Northern Ireland.
In Northern Ireland, children in jobless households had a 10 percentage points higher risk of being income poor compared to those in households with at least one employed adult.
In Ireland, children in jobless households were 27 percentage points more likely to be income poor than children in working households.
If the head of the household had a low educational level, this significantly increased the risk of child poverty and material deprivation in both jurisdictions. There were more children in Northern Ireland living in such households.
While the research found that welfare systems in Ireland and Northern Ireland were broadly similar, Ireland offered higher child benefit levels, but Northern Ireland provided broader access to means-tested benefits.
Stakeholders in Northern Ireland identified the two-child limit in UK welfare policy as a major driver of child poverty. Mitigation measures designed to offset the Benefit Cap in Northern Ireland were identified as being crucial to preventing further poverty.
In Ireland, the reliance on temporary cost-of-living measures were seen as less effective than sustained increases in social welfare payments linked to inflation.
Northern Ireland's long-standing provision of free school meals to children in low-income households was recognised as an important direct support, with calls from stakeholders to expand these benefits during holiday periods to make them universal.
Stakeholders in Ireland welcomed the recent expansion of similar supports.
Policies supporting access to education, training, and childcare were critical in both jurisdictions to improve parental access to employment and to address risks of low-wage work, particularly for lone parents and disabled individuals.
Helen Russell who authored the report described as "unacceptable", the number of children on the island of Ireland experiencing poverty.
"Reducing this must be a priority for governments on both sides of the border. The report highlights the range of welfare, educational, and labour market supports that impact and are needed to address this issue. It also highlights the need for clear targets, and political accountability to tackle child poverty effectively, as well as the scope for greater cooperation and learning on a North South basis."
