Two- thirds of children suffering from consistent poverty live in lone parent families, according to a new report, even though the number of children being raised by lone parents is less than half that.

The report, issued by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) shows that in the three years from 2004 to 2007, the proportion of children in poverty who are living in lone parent families has increased.

The report, entitled ‘Monitoring Poverty Trends in Ireland 2004-2007, says: “In 2004, children in lone parent families accounted for 53pc of children in consistent poverty, while in 2007, 65pc of children in consistent poverty were in such families.”

One in five children is raised in a lone parent family. This has doubled since 1986.

Research shows that marriage reduces levels of poverty. One US study by Isabel Sawhill and Adam Thomas called “For Richer or for Poorer: Marriage as an Anti-Poverty Strategy” estimates that if the US marriage rate had been the same in 2001 as it was in 1970, the poverty rate would have been 20 to 30p percent lower than its actual 1998 value.