Child income poverty has fluctuated more in Northern Ireland than in the Republic of Ireland, according to a report.
The income poverty rate means a child who is living in a household with a disposable income that is less than 60% of median income.
The report from the Economic and Social Research Institute examined which groups of children are most vulnerable to poverty, household labour market situation and social background, and the differences in policy approaches on both sides of the border.
In the Republic of Ireland, child income poverty fell in the early 2000s then stalled from 2008 to 2017 before gradually falling again in the most recent period, where it has remained at about 14%.
In Northern Ireland child income poverty has fluctuated much more but has stood at more than 20% for the entire period.
There was a significant rise in child income poverty in Northern Ireland in the latest year but researchers cautioned that this came from smaller numbers in the Northern Ireland sample and that a two-year average again showed stability.
The researchers also looked at material deprivation, which occurs when families are unable to afford at least two of five basic essentials such as paying their bills on time or keeping their home warm.
The two jurisdictions show a much more similar trend in child material deprivation with both seeing a rise in deprivation from 2010 to 2013/2014 followed by a steady decline which halted in 2018/2019.
The trends differ for the most recent period, with Republic of Ireland rates declining marginally while in Northern Ireland there was a steeper fall until 2022 before child material deprivation went back up again.
Elsewhere on Thursday, the Children’s Rights Alliance is calling for billions of euro in Apple taxes to be invested in the futures of young Irish people.
Ireland was to receive more than 14.1 billion euro in back taxes and interest from Apple as a result of a landmark ruling in the European Court of Justice last year, which found that Ireland gave undue tax benefits to the US tech giant, contrary to EU state aid rules.
The Children’s Rights Alliance (CRA) said a portion of this massive sum should be ringfenced for future generations.
The group’s chief executive Tanya Ward said: “These funds completely eclipse the total spend in many of the key areas of children and young people’s lives and the public services that they engage in. Even a portion of these funds could have a transformational impact on their future.
“The Government has been gifted this unprecedented opportunity that should inspire innovative and ambitious thinking. However, discussions on how we can invest this in the future of our country – our children and young people – have taken a complete back seat in the debate.”
She added: “We are currently grappling with considerable societal challenges – a spiralling housing crisis, a chronic shortage of places in early years and education.
“Investing in infrastructure needs to extend to educational settings. Every penny spent on education is well spent and helps children reach their full potential while also nurturing the talent of our future workforce – the lifeblood of the economy.”
The group is calling for large-scale investment in education and early years infrastructure to “break the cycle of poverty” and “broaden horizons for all children and young people”.
The CRA is partnering with the Community Foundation Ireland for an event in Dublin on Thursday. It comes a day after the publication of the draft programme for government.
The document includes a range of pledges on investing in the future of children and young people, including reducing the cost of childcare and improving access to early years educators.
Denise Charlton, chief executive of Community Foundation Ireland added: “Investing in our children, putting in place the facilities which give them opportunities to grow, to learn and to be creative is not only the right thing to do, it also makes economic sense.”
The draft programme for government also pledges to set an “ambitious child poverty target” with a focus on inequality, as well as a new Youth Services Action Plan.
In addition, the document says the next Government would explore the establishment of a managed savings account for newborns with an initial one-off contribution by the State, ensuring lower-income families benefit most from its inception.