SILC Module on Child Deprivation 2024

Modules are carried out as part of SILC each year to complement the variables permanently collected in the survey. Every three years the SILC survey contains a module on ‘Children’. Eurostat (the statistical office of the European Union) computes a Child-Specific Material Deprivation rate every three years, using the data collected through the module on children. The children’s module was conducted as part of SILC 2021 and repeated in 2024.

In total, 17 items are used to calculate the child specific material deprivation rate. A child is considered as deprived if they suffer from an enforced lack of at least three out of the 17 items. The child specific material deprivation indicator is based on the following lists of items:

1) Twelve child specific material deprivation items collected in the triennial module:

1. Some new (not second-hand) clothes
2. Two pairs of properly fitting shoes (including a pair of all-weather shoes)
3. Fruits and vegetables once a day
4. One meal with meat, chicken or fish (or vegetarian equivalent) at least once a day
5. Books at home suitable for their age
6. Outdoor leisure equipment
7. Indoor games
8. Regular leisure activities
9. Celebrations on special occasions
10. Invite friends round to play or eat from time to time
11. Participate in school trips and school events that cost money
12. Go on holiday away from home at least one week per year

2) Four household variables collected annually:

1. Ability to replace worn-out furniture
2. Payment arrears (on mortgage or rental payments, utility bills, hire purchase instalments or other loan payments)
3. Ability to keep the home adequately warm
4. Have access to a car/van for personal use

3) One material deprivation variable collected annually at individual level for adults in the household:

1. Having internet connection

In 2024, 13.8 % of children under the age of 16 years in Ireland were child-specific materially deprived. This figure increased from 12.6% in 2021. See table 4.1 and PxStat table SILCCD17.

More than half of children living in households where nobody was working were materially deprived

Analysis by demographic and other characteristics shows large differences in child specific material deprivation rates. For example, more than half (54.2%) of children in households where nobody worked in 2024 experienced child specific material deprivation, more than double the rate (24.4%) for children living in households with one worker and almost 15 times higher than the rate for children living in households with two workers (3.7%). See figure 4.1 & PxStat table SILCCD19.

In 2024, the child specific material deprivation rate for children living in single-parent households was three times higher than the rate for children living with both parents (30.7% compared with 10.5%). See PxStat table SILCCD22.

The number of children in the household also has an impact on the child specific material deprivation rate. One in five (20.5%) children living in households where there were three or more children under 16 years experienced child specific material deprivation in 2024. This was double the rate for children living in households with one or two children (10.2%). See Figure 4.2 & PxStat table SILCCD23.

Children living in rented accommodation have a higher child specific deprivation rate

Three in ten (31.1%) children who lived in rented accommodation experienced child-specific material deprivation in 2024, up from 28.3% in 2021. The comparable rates for children living in owner-occupied households was much lower at 3.7% in 2024 and 2.8% in 2021. See figure 4.3 and PxStat table SILCCD25.

The level of education achieved by either parent also had an impact on the child specific deprivation rate. One in five (19.2%) of those with parents who had only achieved an upper secondary education or lower were materially deprived in 2024, compared to one in twenty (6.1%) children with at least one parent with a third level education. See PxStat table SILCCD20.

Another significant factor that impacted the child specific deprivation rate was the household income. Understandably so, children living in households with lower incomes had a higher rate of deprivation compared to children living in higher income households. Two in five (36.9%) children whose household income fell into the first (lowest) income quintile were materially deprived in 2024, compared to 1.2% of children whose household income fell into the fifth (top) income quintile. See Figure 4.4 & PxStat table SILCCD21.

Finally, looking at the country of birth of parents and its impact on the deprivation rates of their children indicates that children with non-Irish born parents had significantly higher rates. Three in ten (29.5%) children living in a household with non-Irish born parents experienced child specific material deprivation in 2024, compared with 8.5% of children living with at least one Irish born parent. See PxStat table SILCCD24.