The transfer of wealth has continued under the neoliberal government. More money in the country but being funnelled upwards. Cost of living crisis, Housing crisis, Health crisis. Privileged class distracted and mostly unaffected.
Relative poverty.
Just a reminder that relative poverty means inequality.
So here’s what the ESRI said about childhood poverty in June.
* At risk of poverty is 13.9% – AROP is typically defined as being in a household with income below 60% of the national median income. They say ‘at risk’ because there can be many factors.
* AROP would be 23.9% except for the in-cash benefits that get injected into these households. In other words, child benefit, family income supplements etc make a massive difference, and arguable more could and should be done.
This new, bigger report is saying something different:
According to RTE: “One in five children are living below the poverty line after housing costs are taken into account, according to research from the Economic and Social Research Institute”
The gist is basically saying that because rent/housing is so far out of whack, there’s many more children at risk of poverty, or in poverty, than the normal definition of AROP allows for.
I skimmed it, and it’s got some interesting discussion on how adolescent poverty leads to adult poverty. I grew up in a council estate and this doesn’t surprise me, as kids are forced to work long part-time hours to contribute from 16, contributing to worse education outcomes and possibly in a home where there isn’t parity of expectation in terms of achieving further education etc.
I don’t know the answer, but I’d personally prefer to see more direct intervention on rents than more direct cash benefits. We simply have to drive the market rate down, rather than feeding the demand side with cash. At some point you have to fix the hole in the boat (take a long term view on supply of social and affordable homes) instead of baling water continuously (spending frothy tax on more and more in-cash benefits).
Anyway, I guess back to school season is over and we’re firmly into budget season for journalists and commentary.
It’s like they found a new way to fleece the place without being in an official recession.
Okay this is seriously alarming. This doesn’t seem to affect FFG voters though, more than happy to keep this going.
Thing’s are going to get real bad when the current “boom” goes bust. And with France about to go bankrupt that could be very very soon.
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The transfer of wealth has continued under the neoliberal government. More money in the country but being funnelled upwards. Cost of living crisis, Housing crisis, Health crisis. Privileged class distracted and mostly unaffected.
Relative poverty.
Just a reminder that relative poverty means inequality.
[Child-Related Benefits Lift Over 150,000 Children Out of Poverty in Ireland | ESRI](https://www.esri.ie/news/child-related-benefits-lift-over-150000-children-out-of-poverty-in-ireland)
So here’s what the ESRI said about childhood poverty in June.
* At risk of poverty is 13.9% – AROP is typically defined as being in a household with income below 60% of the national median income. They say ‘at risk’ because there can be many factors.
* AROP would be 23.9% except for the in-cash benefits that get injected into these households. In other words, child benefit, family income supplements etc make a massive difference, and arguable more could and should be done.
This new, bigger report is saying something different:
According to RTE: “One in five children are living below the poverty line after housing costs are taken into account, according to research from the Economic and Social Research Institute”
[Poverty, income inequality and living standards in Ireland: Fifth annual report](https://www.rte.ie/documents/news/2025/09/esri-report.pdf)
The gist is basically saying that because rent/housing is so far out of whack, there’s many more children at risk of poverty, or in poverty, than the normal definition of AROP allows for.
I skimmed it, and it’s got some interesting discussion on how adolescent poverty leads to adult poverty. I grew up in a council estate and this doesn’t surprise me, as kids are forced to work long part-time hours to contribute from 16, contributing to worse education outcomes and possibly in a home where there isn’t parity of expectation in terms of achieving further education etc.
I don’t know the answer, but I’d personally prefer to see more direct intervention on rents than more direct cash benefits. We simply have to drive the market rate down, rather than feeding the demand side with cash. At some point you have to fix the hole in the boat (take a long term view on supply of social and affordable homes) instead of baling water continuously (spending frothy tax on more and more in-cash benefits).
Anyway, I guess back to school season is over and we’re firmly into budget season for journalists and commentary.
It’s like they found a new way to fleece the place without being in an official recession.
Okay this is seriously alarming. This doesn’t seem to affect FFG voters though, more than happy to keep this going.
Thing’s are going to get real bad when the current “boom” goes bust. And with France about to go bankrupt that could be very very soon.
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