CHILDREN’S CHARITY BARNARDOS has said the CSO’s publication of the Income and Living Conditions in 2011 survey shows the ravaging affects of recession on children and families in Ireland.
According to the Central Statistics Office, 16 per cent of the population in 2011 were at risk of poverty, an increase of 1.3 per cent since 2010 and almost one quarter of the population experienced two or more types of enforced deprivation in 2011, up from 22.6 per cent in 2010.
The average annual equivalised disposable income was €21,440, a decline of just over 3 per cent on the 2010 value of €22,138.
The consistent poverty rate was 6.9 per cent in 2011, not a statistically significant change on the 2010 figure of 6.3 per cent.
Barnardos’ CEO, Fergus Finlay believes that these figures are behind in reflecting the extreme hardship currently being experienced by many families and children around Ireland.
Every budget for the last two years has eroded family income in multiple ways. The high rate of poverty for children, and the startling increase in deprivation figures for all families shows that Government choices have fundamentally failed to protect children and families.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton said the data “underlines the crucial importance of social welfare in protecting the most vulnerable”.
She said the information shows that “the impact of the crisis has not worsened income inequality,” as the figures are exactly the same in 2011 as they were in 2007, before the crisis.
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