Many children stuck in poverty unless big political choices made

Irish children face a bright future, but many will remain stuck in a grinding cycle of poverty unless the right political choices are made, study has revealed.

The report, by independent social researcher Brian Harvey, makes a series of predictions regarding the challenges facing the next generation, but finds that while there are grounds for optimism, children could still face “a bleak future of adversity”.

The Tomorrow’s Child report, commissioned by Barnardos, states: “The most striking feature arising from the research is that about a fifth of Irish children face difficulty or hardship now and are likely to continue to do so. This is a large minority, by any standards.”

It adds: “Substantial numbers of children will continue to face unequal opportunities unless child poverty can be reduced and the critical deficits in housing, health, social and early childhood education and care services rectified.”

Both Mr Harvey and Barnardos chief executive Fergus Finlay claimed these predictions were not the result of social trends but of “political choices”.

By Noel Baker, Iriah Examiner

More story at-http://www.irishexaminer.ie/irishexaminer/pages/story.aspx-qqqg=ireland-qqqm=ireland-qqqa=ireland-qqqid=76592-qqqx=1.asp

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