Barnardos children’s charity is disappointed to see little done to support lower income and vulnerable families in Budget 2027.
Today’s ESRI findings that school absence rates are higher in disadvantaged areas and among children living in poverty, lone parent households and where there are adverse experiences, including poor parental mental health and addiction, are deeply concerning, although unfortunately not unexpected says Barnardos children’s charity.
The European Commission has introduced a new EU Kids Act, creating a common EU approach to children’s online safety. The proposal covers social media, video sharing platforms, online gaming and AI powered services used by children and young people.
Barnardos children’s charity welcomes the comments made by the Taoiseach last week that child poverty will be a key priority for Budget 2027. The statistics published today by the ESRI demonstrate that too many children are living in poverty and that measures, focused on the lowest income families, need to be introduced in Budget 27 in order to make progress towards the Government’s targets.
Download the report Key findings:School Avoidance: More than one fifth (21%) of primary and one third (33%) of secondary school parents said their children were refusing or avoiding going to school at least once a month.Absenteeism: Almost half (46%) of parents said their children missed school for non-health/medical reasons last year once or twice, with
Local author Cherry Jordan, will launch her new book, Johnny Hedgehog and the Summer Holidays. The book follows a nine-year-old boy as he embarks on an adventure during his school holidays, and how he connects with people from different generations.
Heinz and Barnardos research highlights how mealtimes and relationships across generations help children feel connected and supported.
Barnardos has today launched its Back to School Survey 2026. Results continue to show that parents are concerned about meeting costs this year with primary school parents particularly worried about the cost of uniforms and many secondary school parents concerned about how to meet the cost of digital devices.
Barnardos is raising concern as the publication of the long overdue Housing Action Plan has been delayed until September and a further increase in the monthly homelessness figures is to be expected when published this Friday. The number of children in Ireland living in emergency accommodation during the summer holidays is deeply concerning, damaging childhoods and distressing parents across the country.
Barnardos today launched their Cost of Living – Impact on Children 2026 report. For five years Barnardos has monitored the impact of cost of living increases on families and raised the issue, urging the Government to set up targeted actions to protect families and reduce child poverty.