The dynamics of child poverty in Ireland: Evidence from the Growing Up in Ireland survey. ESRI Research Series 121 May 2021.

In Ireland, as in many other European countries, children are more likely to experience income poverty and material deprivation compared to other age groups of the population. Some families experience poverty as a transitory state, while others remain trapped in poverty for protracted periods (for example, Bane and Ellwood, 1986; Jenkins and Rigg, 2001). This is an important policy issue, as international research has shown that persistent poverty has negative effects short- and long-term) on children’s physical, social, emotional and psychological wellbeing and life chances (Duncan et al., 1998, 2018). The Growing up in Ireland(GUI) survey provides a unique opportunity to study children and young people’s experience of poverty in Ireland from infancy to early adulthood (age 17). We adopt a multidimensional measure of poverty, which encompasses not just income but also material deprivation and economic strain. This study sets out to profile the long-term exposure to poverty during childhood, identify the families most at risk of persistent poverty, examine the factors that trigger moves into and out of poverty, and explore the consequences of poverty for children across a wide range of domains. The study draws on all available waves of the GUI data for two cohorts: the ‘08 cohort, which covers the period from 9 months to 9 years, and the ‘98 cohort, which covers the period from 9 years to 17–18 years.1 Our analysis is based on 6,039 families that participated in all three waves of the ‘98 cohort and 7,507 families that completed all four waves of the ‘08 cohort. The interviews took place between 2007 and 2017, a period of immense economic turmoil in Ireland. A key policy debate has centred on whether it is better to target supports and interventions towards younger rather than older children. The design of the GUI study allows us to consider whether the patterns we observe differ for younger and older children.