The number of homeless children almost doubled last year

The number of homeless children in the State peaked in November last year, almost doubling from 865 in 401 families in January 2015, to 1,709 children in 813 families in November, the just-published end-of-year figures show.

The data, released last night by the Department of the Environment, shows the number of children and families in emergency accommodation fell slightly in December, to 1,616 children in 775 families.

This was the only month when the numbers fell last year – a “blip” that has been put down to some families being taken in by extended family during the Christmas period and a disinclination of landlords to evict families at that time of year.

The highest numbers were in Dublin; in November there were 1,466 children in 705 families, falling in December to 1,409 children in 683 families.

This compares with 780 homeless children in 359 families in the capital at the start of last year – up 87 per cent over the year.

Outside Dublin, the highest numbers were in the southwest – including Cork city – where there were 52 homeless children in 24 families in December, a 100 per cent increase on the 26 children in 13 families at the start of 2015.

Lone parents

Most homeless children continue to be in families headed by lone parents, reflecting their far higher risk of poverty.

Of the 1,616 homeless children in December, 940, or 58 per cent, were in the care of single parents.

The breakdown in November was almost identical – some 996 (58 per cent) of the 1,709 children nationally were in lone-parent families.

Concern has been expressed about the adverse impact on children of long-term stays in emergency accommodation by a range of human and children’s rights bodies, most recently by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.