A mix of policy measures will be needed to reduce the number of people in poverty by 2025, including increasing female labour force participation, according to a new study.
The Economic Social Research Institute (ESRI) research has called for increases in payments to working families and those with children.
The Government aims to have a consistent poverty rate of 2 per cent or lower in the next three years.
ESRI Senior Research Officer Dr Karina Doorley said a combination of measures will be needed to achieve that.
"Not surprisingly the main takeaway is that there is no silver bullet to reducing poverty, so we have options, we have lots of options. On the employment side, we can reduce barriers to work through the provision of affordable childcare, elder care, and other things that would prevent people who want to work from actually going out to work. This will decrease poverty rates somewhat."
The report found over the period 2004-2019, lone parents and their children and working-age adults with disabilities and their children experienced the highest rates of income poverty, deprivation and consistent poverty.
Consistent poverty rate
In 2019, the income poverty rate for lone parents was 33 per cent, the deprivation rate 46 per cent and the consistent poverty rate 23 per cent.
Simulations which increase selected social transfers by €100 million each show that the Working Family Payment (WFP) has the largest potential income poverty reduction effect.
The report recommended an additional spend of €100 million on the WFP, which could reduce income poverty by the whole population by half a percentage point and by one percentage point for children and people in rented accommodation.
The research also simulated an increased spending on social transfer packages for children, working-age adults and people over 65 by €1 billion each.
Qualified Child Inreaseas and the WFP had the strongest impact on child poverty, with a reduction of 4.8 percentage points.
The children’s package and working age package (Jobseeker’s Allowance, One-Parent Family Payment etc) also have "a strong income poverty reduction effect for people in rented accommodation (-4.5 percentage points)."
