The number of children living in consistent poverty has risen to over 100,000, with advocates warning it could take four to five generations to break the cycle.
Children’s Rights Alliance chief executive Tanya Ward said “untold trauma” was being inflicted on children who are homeless in Ireland while rising rents and a scarcity of housing supply has left thousands of families living on top of each other in cramped or inappropriate homes.
It comes as the Government meets today to ratify controversial changes to regulate the rental sector, which charities say will only incentivise landlords to evict more tenants to hike rents even further.
The Child Poverty Monitor report for 2025, being launched today by the Children’s Rights Alliance, shows the consistent poverty rate among children is higher than any other age group and rose significantly last year.
“What is deeply concerning is the number of children in consistent poverty — who are living in these conditions perpetually — which rose by a staggering 45,107 in 2024 to 102,977,” Ms Ward said.
“These are children for whom a decent standard of living and aspirations of a better future diminish day by day. This poverty is not inevitable. Policy decisions and budget investments determine the fate of these children and young people.”
Ms Ward highlighted some steps taken by the Government to help families, such as free school books, hot school meals, and free GP care for children under eight. Other universal measures, such as investments in childcare, have advanced quicker than had been expected.
“However, these have come at the expense of the targeted measures and strategic investment that are critical to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty our children are inheriting. Budget 2026 has to focus on breaking the cycle,” Ms Ward said.
Singling out housing and homelessness, the charity’s report said there has been a year-on-year increase in child homelessness every year since it began publishing its monitor.
Almost one in four children at risk of poverty are growing up in overcrowded households, which are completely unsuitable to meet their needs, the report found.
It cited research from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) which shows such overcrowding can have negative impacts on a child’s wellbeing and education, and said the Government should give this due attention.
The report adds: “With the right strategic decisions at policy level and the political will to address child poverty, we can turn the tide. The harsh reality is, that tide is rising.”
It comes as housing minister James Browne will today bring proposals to Cabinet for an overhaul of rent pressure zones (RPZs), which were introduced in 2016 to protect tenants by limiting rent increases.
The new proposals are part of an overall plan to attract international investment to kickstart the building of apartments here.
Under the plans, the 2% cap on rent increases in RPZs will remain in place for existing tenancies but new tenancies will be more closely linked to the base rate of inflation.
Under the new system, landlords will be able to change or reset rents when a tenant leaves a property, with coalition leaders agreeing the changes along with strengthened protections for renters late on Monday evening. Coalition sources said the change would for the first time ensure a national system of rent controls for every tenancy in the country and bring the 20% or of renters not covered by RPZs into a rent control scheme.
Mike Allen, head of the housing charity Focus Ireland, said the Government plan will make renters even more vulnerable, and create a multi-tier rental system.
“You also create incentives for landlords to evict people so they have a vacancy, and then they can re-rent at a higher rent,” Mr Allen said.
The Government has indicated it will press ahead with the proposal despite widespread concern, as Taoiseach Micheál Martin insisted the changes still offer protections for renters.
Mr Martin said the Government is “looking at everything” to increase supply, including modern methods of construction and more modular building.
