Families on low incomes need to spend up to one third (33%) of their weekly income to afford a healthy food basket that meets nutritional needs, according to the latest food basket report from Safefood.
Costs were more than 20% higher for households with a teenager at home than those of a household with children of pre-school and primary school age.
The research, which looked at the cost of a minimum essential food basket for six household types - adjusted to reflect food costs in 2024 - found that households reliant on social welfare spend a larger percentage of their take home income on food compared to households with an employed adult.
The average family of two parents on state benefits and two children, where the older child was in secondary school, had a total weekly food basket cost of €198 or 33% of their take home income.
For a one-parent household relying on state benefits with two children of pre-school and primary school age, their weekly basket cost €122 or 28% of their take home income.
This was 12% higher than if the adult was employed earning the national minimum wage.
Among pensioners, the total weekly healthy food basket cost ranged from €72 for a single pensioner to €90 for a couple.
According to the most recent Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, food price inflation in Ireland rose to a 20-month high of 5% in August this year.
Safefood said that typically, families on low income tend to eat less well, which can contribute to higher levels of excess weight and corresponding health complications like heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.
Director of Nutrition with Safefood, Dr Aileen McGloin, has said that for households with children, food shopping is often the only flexible part of their spend.
"Many families are being forced to choose cheaper and often nutritionally poor food items to keep food spending within their means and this is a really worrying trend. What this research consistently shows is the challenge for families on low income of trying to balance the cost of a heathy food basket against the cost of meeting other needs and expenses," she said.
The contents of the food baskets in the Safefood survey were based on menus put together by the households themselves.
People selected an acceptable food basket in terms of taste and menu choices, while also meeting the social needs of a household, for example, hosting visitors or special occasions like birthdays.
The food baskets were reviewed by nutritionists to ensure they met the nutritional guidelines and then price-checked accordingly.
