End Child Poverty Week – Call for Budget 2024 to be “Children’s Budget”

The week will place a spotlight on key thematic areas of child poverty, including early years, education, income, national action and local plans, child welfare and alternative care.

Ahead of the launch of Budget 2024 on October 10, the Children’s Rights Alliance is calling for “a Children’s Budget” – one that is designed to break the cycle of poverty affecting children, young people and families across the country.

Speaking in response to the publication of the Government’s Child Poverty and Wellbeing Unit Programme Plan earlier this month, Tanya Ward, Chief Executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance said:

“In the past few weeks, we have seen the publication of several seismic reports into children’s care and wellbeing along with a further increase in the number of children experiencing homelessness in Ireland.

“We need to see ambitious thinking and significant and strategic investment in children and young people to break the cycle of poverty that holds them back from reaching their full potential.

“Child poverty affects every aspect of a child’s life and the longer a child lives with the weight of poverty on their shoulders, the greater the risk of it casting a shadow over the rest of their future.”

Each day during End Child Poverty Week 2023, a event featuring a keynote speaker and expert panel discussion will take place both in person and online focusing on the each of the key themes.

Keynote speakers throughout the week include Senator Lynn Ruane; psychologist Dr Sharon Lambert; assistant secretary general for social policy, Elizabeth Canavan; social studies professor Hugh Frazer; and Professor Mathias Urban, of the Early Childhood Research Centre at DCU.

For more information on each of the daily events, or to register to attend online or in person, go to https://www.childrensrights.ie/content/end-child-poverty-week.