Minister O’Gorman publishes Spotlight report: Children & Young People’s indicator set outcome “Economic Security & Opportunity”

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman, has today published a report , which collated available data from the Children and Young People’s indicator set outcome “Economic security and opportunity” and gives an international comparison.

Speaking about this report, Minister O’Gorman said

“One of the five national outcomes in Young Ireland, the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People 2023-2028, is for children and young people to have economic security and opportunity. Today’s report provides us with key data on how our young people are faring in relation to this outcome, by looking at areas such as employment, poverty rates, and material and social deprivation, and comparing Ireland’s performance with our European neighbours. I am happy to note that Ireland has seen improvements in the majority of indicators discussed in this report in recent years. This report will inform the ongoing implementation of the Young Ireland policy framework.”

This report on the Children and Young People’s indicator set outcome “Economic security and opportunity” is the twelfth report in a series of Statistical Spotlights. These Spotlight publications are topical in nature and of interest to both specialist and general readers. The data is mainly sourced from Eurostat. A full list of sources is provided in the report.

Some of the key findings from the report are:

The number of children aged 0-15 experiencing material and social deprivation in Ireland (15.5% in 2022) was just slightly lower than the European average (16.1%, 2018-2022).*
Irish children aged 0-15 are more likely than their European counterparts to be at risk of poverty before social transfers, with 38.5% at risk in Ireland (2022) compared to 33.3% in Europe on average (2018-2022). For young people aged 18-24-years-old, about the same proportion are at-risk-of-poverty before social transfers in Ireland (33.6% in 2022) as in Europe on average (33.8%, 2018-2022).
The report also looks at the rates of children and young people at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion after social transfers. For children (0-15-year-olds), 22.9% in Ireland (2022) were at-risk, slightly lower than the European average of 23.6% (2018-2022). Ireland had the 8th lowest rate of young people (16-24-year-olds) at risk of poverty or social exclusion after social transfers in Europe, with 18.8% of young people at risk in 2022, compared to the European average of 26.8% (2018-2022). Overall, we can see that the inclusion of social transfers has decreased the amount of children and young people at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion, particularly in the older cohort.
Irish young people (3.7% in 2022) are less likely to become early leavers of education and training compared to young people generally in Europe (8.8%, 2019-2022).
In Ireland, a high level of youth employment was recorded. In 2022, 49.8% of 15-24-year-olds were employed compared to 40.0% in Europe (2018-2022).
Ireland had a low level of youth unemployment in 2022. Among 20-24-year-olds in Ireland, 8.2% were unemployed, 5.8 percentage points lower than the European average of 14.2% (2019-2022).
Children and young people in Ireland aged 0-17 (10.4% in 2022) are more likely to live in jobless households compared to the rest of Europe (7.5%, 2018-2022).
In Ireland, 18.0% of 0-17-year-olds lived in dwellings with a leaking roof, damp walls, or foundations, or rot in the window frames or in the floor in 2020, slightly higher than the European average of 16.4% (2018-2020).

*European averages are calculated based on the most recent data available for each country. However, not all countries provided data in the most recent year, therefore the averages are based off data points over a range of years.

Statistical Spotlight #12: Children and Young People's Indicator Set — Outcome