More Irish children live in poverty than OECD average

THE POOREST in society are no longer pensioners but families with children, an OECD study has found.

Doing Better for Families, the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development's report on family wellbeing, says families with children are more likely to be poor than in previous decades, when the poorest were more likely to be pensioners.

The study finds that while poverty in households with children is rising in nearly all OECD countries, 16.3 per cent of Irish children now live in poverty, well above the OECD average of 12.7 per cent.

The authors of the report have called on governments to ensure their family-support policies protect the most vulnerable. “Family benefits need to be well-designed to maintain work incentives, but they need to be effective in protecting the most vulnerable,” said OECD secretary general Angel Gurría. “Otherwise we risk creating high, long-term social costs for future generations.”

The report documents how families in the OECD have changed dramatically in a generation.

Fertility rates dropped from 2.2 children per woman to 1.7 over the past three decades. Irish fertility rates remained above the average at 2.07.

The report finds that fewer people are getting married and divorce rates are rising.

With more dual-earner than one-earner families in almost every country, female employment has risen in the past 15 years by more than 10 per cent, from just over half of women working in the mid-1990s to nearer 60 per cent in 2009. The female employment rate in Ireland was slightly lower than average, with 57.8 per cent of women in employment compared to an average of 59.6 per cent.

With women doing on average 2.5 hours more housework than men, the report says further increases in female employment may be difficult to achieve unless men help out more with housework and caring responsibilities.

The report recommends that governments ensure work pays off for both parents through assisting with childcare costs and that families are helped to combine work and care commitments through leave, care and workplace support.

Measures that encourage more fathers to take leave and promote their engagement with homecare responsibilities are also called for.

“More family-friendly workplaces, equal career prospects for men and women, and a better sharing of care responsibilities not only make economic sense, they are a moral and political imperative,” said Mr Gurría.