Children in lone parent families or whose parents are cohabiting are among those at most risk of poverty
according to a new study [1] by the Economic and Social Research Institute
(ESRI).
According to the report, entitled Understanding Childhood Deprivation in Ireland, even after controlling
for other factors, children living in lone parent families are at a higher risk
of living in poverty.
Other risk factors included mothers with low
levels of educational attainment and families in which the father is
unemployed.
Conversely, poverty rates for children in married
families were low.
The study said: “Child-only deprivation (in
households that are not also experiencing basic deprivation) is more common in
lone parent households where the parent was formerly married, where the parents
are cohabiting, where the mother does not work, in lower social classes or where
the household reference person has never worked.”
According to the report, 30pc of all children
“were in households experiencing basic deprivation compared to 23pc of the
general population”.
The report defines basic deprivation on the basis
of an enforced lack (cannot afford) of 11 basic items, including food, clothing,
heating, furniture and social participation. All of these items relate to the
household as a whole or to adult members of the household.
However the report said that 13pc of children
experienced what it called child-specific deprivation.
According to the report, the definition of
child-specific deprivation was based on 13 items: food (fruit, three balanced
meals daily, protein meals); clothing (properly-fitting shoes, new clothes);
play (games, outdoor leisure equipment, regular leisure activity); social
participation (celebrations, inviting friends home, school trip or activity);
and educational (books, place to do homework).
The report’s authors constructed a scale based on
children lacking any of these 13 items because the household cannot afford them.
They said that, on the basis of their scale, “13pc
of children – or just over one in eight – lack one or more of these items”.
The report says that the differential between
child-specific deprivation and basic deprivation,can be explained by the fact
that many parents are diverting resources or are otherwise able to protect
against deprivation specific to children.
In 2010, eight per cent of children were in
consistent poverty, compared to six per cent of the general population.