Child-related benefits have lifted over 150,000 children out of poverty, according to the Economic and Social Research Institute.
The study, published as part of the ESRI's Budget Perspectives 2026 series, evaluated the impact of existing benefits on child poverty.
It found that Ireland’s system of child-related cash and in-kind benefits has significantly reduced child income poverty and deprivation.
In-cash benefits such as Child Benefit and Working Families Payment are considered in addition to in-kind child-contingent benefits such as National Childcare Scheme subsidies and free school books and meals.
These benefits, according to the ESRI, are lifting an estimated 157,000 children out of income poverty and 94,000 out of consistent poverty.
Yesterday, the Children’s Rights Alliance published its latest Child Poverty Monitor which showed that there were almost 103,000 children in households in consistent poverty last year.
Consistent poverty describes an income below the relative or at risk of poverty threshold and a person who cannot afford at least two of 11 deprivation indicators.
Those indicators include having two pairs of strong shoes, a warm waterproof coat and eating meat, chicken, fish or a vegetarian equivalent every second day.
The ESRI found that when it accounted for both in-cash and in-kind child benefits, the simulated child At Risk of Poverty (AROP) rate for 2025 was 13.9% (165,000 children).
It concluded that in the absence of in-cash benefits, the AROP rate would be 10 percentage points higher.
When it examined in-kind benefits, such as free preschool and school meals, the AROP rate would be 1.5 percentage points higher in their absence.
Accounting for both in-cash and in-kind child benefits, researchers found a simulated child consistent poverty rate of 5.6%.
In the absence of these supports the child consistent poverty rate would be 13.6%.
The research explored ways to further reduce child poverty.
A proposed second tier of means-tested Child Benefit "emerges as the most cost-effective option" according to the report.
It would reduce the child AROP rate by 4.6 percentage points (lifting 55,000 children out of income poverty) and consistent poverty by 2.1 percentage points (lifting 25,000 children out of consistent poverty) - at an annual cost of approximately €772 million.
