SILC data 2020 to 2022 was revised on 7 March 2024 due to changes made to weights, reflecting updated household population benchmarks, due to the availability of Census 2022 data.
The data in SILC Module on Child Deprivation 2021 was published on 04 October 2022 and does not reflect these revisions, but will be updated in 2024 to incorporate these revisions. For the most up to date SILC data, which reflect revised population benchmarks from Census revisions, please see SILC 2023 or SILC PxStat.
One in ten (9.7%) single-parent households could not afford to pay for school trips or school events for their children compared with 2.0% of two-parent households.
More than one in ten (12.4%) single-parent households were unable to afford two pairs of properly fitting shoes for their children. The comparable rate for two-parent households was 1.0%.
A fifth (20.6%) of households where nobody worked were unable to afford to pay for regular leisure activities (e.g. swimming, playing an instrument, youth organisations, etc.) for their children. This compares with 5.2% of households where one person worked and less than 1% (0.6%) of households with two workers.
Four in ten (39.2%) households that rent could not afford a one-week holiday away from home for their children, five times higher than the rate for owner-occupied households (7.9%).
One in ten (9.6%) households that rent were unable to afford new clothes for their children, compared with 1.1% of owner-occupied households.
One in ten (10.3%) households without an Irish-born parent could not afford to buy new clothes for their children compared with 2.8% of households with at least one Irish-born parent.
Parent(s) were unable to afford new clothes for their children in 4.3% of households. In 10.5% of households, parent(s) were unable to afford new clothes for themselves.
This is an audio file with a 30-second quote from CSO Senior Statistician with the Income Consumption and Wealth (ICW) Division, Gerry Reilly, about the SILC Module on Child Deprivation 2021 publication. Results in soundbite are rounded to the nearest percentage point.
Media outlets have permission to use the clip as long as they credit the CSO.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (04 October 2022) issued results from the ‘Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) Module on Child Deprivation 2021’.
Commenting on today’s publication, Gerry Reilly, Senior Statistician, in the Income, Wealth and Consumption (ICW) Division, said:
“The Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) in Ireland is the official source of data on household and individual income and provides a number of key national poverty indicators, such as the at risk of poverty rate, the consistent poverty rate, and rates of enforced deprivation. It is one of a number of key household surveys conducted by the CSO.
Modules are carried out as part of the SILC each year to complement the variables permanently collected in the survey. In the 2021 SILC module, information on 13 child-specific deprivation items was gathered from households with at least one child aged less than 16 on the date of interview. Typically a parent of the child/children in the household provided this information. Please see Chapter 2 ‘Introduction and Results at State Level’ which describes each of the 13 child-specific deprivation items.
Overall, one in ten (9.2%) households with children were deprived of two or more of the 13 items. An analysis of deprivation by household characteristics shows that single-parent households, households with no worker, and households that rent had higher rates of child-specific deprivation. One in four (24.6%) single-parent households were deprived of two or more items, compared with one in twenty (4.8%) two-parent households. In households where nobody worked, 34.5% experienced two or more deprivation items which is more than 10 times the rate (3.0%) for households where two persons worked. One in five (20.1%) households that rent experienced two or more deprivation items. The comparable rate for owner-occupied households was one in forty (2.5%).
Number of Parents in a Household
Almost half (47.5%) of single-parent households and one in ten (11.8%) two-parent households could not afford a holiday for their children. More than one in ten (12.4%) single-parent households were unable to afford two pairs of properly fitting shoes for their children. The comparable rate for two-parent households was 1.0%.
Number of Workers in a Household
Deprivation rates were higher for households with no worker. A fifth (20.6%) of these households were unable to afford to pay for regular leisure activities (e.g. swimming, playing an instrument, youth organisations, etc.) for their children. This compares with 5.2% of households where one person worked and less than 1% (0.6%) of households with two workers. More than one in ten (13.6%) households with no worker could not afford to pay for school trips or school events for their children compared with 3.4% of households with one worker and 1.8% of households with two workers.
Tenure Status
Analysis of child-specific deprivation by tenure status shows that one in ten (9.6%) households that rent could not afford some new (not second-hand) clothes for their children under 16, this compares with 1.1% of owner-occupied households. Four in ten (39.2%) households that rent could not afford a one-week holiday for their children. This rate is five times higher than the rate for owner-occupied households (7.9%).
Country of Birth of Parent(s)
One in ten (10.3%) households without an Irish-born parent could not afford some new clothes for their children. A similar percentage (8.9%) of these households were unable to afford two pairs of properly fitting shoes for their children. The comparable deprivation rates for households with an Irish-born parent were 2.8% for inability to afford new clothes and 2.2% for inability to afford shoes for their children.
Prioritising Resources
Parents appear to prioritise the purchase of clothes for their children over themselves. In 4.3% of households parent(s) were unable to afford new clothes for their child/children and in 10.5% of households parent(s) were unable to afford new clothes for themselves.”