Notes on the Front

According to leaks, the Government is apparently ‘considering’
proposals from a Department of Social Protection working group to reform Child Benefit
payments.  There is something profoundly manipulative
about this debate.  Only one part has
been leaked – the overall cut.  It would
have been just as easy to leak the entire set of proposals.  Partial leaks usually suggest there is an
agenda at work.  Given that parts of the
proposals are in the public debate, the Department should now just publish the
entire report so we can read, judge for ourselves and be part of the ‘consideration’. 

That said, the media reports that the Government is
considering cutting Child Benefit is not correct.  The Government is already intending to cut
Child Benefit.  They announced it last
year, started it last year and intend to continue doing it next year.  So the Government is not considering cutting
Child Benefit.  It is considering cutting more Child Benefit.

Last year, the Government announced its intention to
eliminate the Child Benefit supplement to the third and additional child. 

The Government is already cutting Child Benefit.  For households with three children, the Government
intends to cut the supplement for the 3^rd child by 17 percent over
two years and the supplement to the 4^th child by 21 percent.  And that’s on top of cuts that started since Budget
2010.  So what has been the total level
of cuts for larger families since the crisis began, factoring in the cuts the
Government has already announced for next year?

Child Benefits
payment for households with more than two children will be cut by €63 a month for each child – or 31
percent.

That is a big, big hit. 
And that doesn’t count the abolition of the Early Childcare Supplement –
which had nothing to do with childcare; it was essentially a Child Benefit
supplement.  This was worth €83 a month
for families with young children.

All households have been hit by cuts in Child Benefit – but larger
families have been hit the most.  This goes
a long way towards explaining the exponential rise in deprivation among larger
families. 

Let’s look at the Eurostat’s measurement of severe
material deprivation.  This is a
harsher measure than the CSO’s deprivation measurement.  Under Eurostat, a household suffers from
severe material deprivation if they cannot afford four of the following items:

• to pay their rent, mortgage or utility bills
• to keep their home adequately warm
• to face unexpected expenses
• to eat meat or proteins regularly
• to go on holiday
• a television set
• a washing machine
• a car
• a telephone

I don’t know about you, but I would find it terrible not to
be able to afford one of the above.  But
four?  This is truly a severe material
deprivation rate.

So how do families with three children fare under this
measurement?

Ireland is grouped up at the top.  11 percent of households with three or more
children suffer from severe deprivation. 
And let’s remember – that was in 2010. 
There have been cuts in Child Benefit and working age social welfare
payments in Budget 2011 and cuts in large family supplements last year.  And this doesn’t count falls in income, job
loss, etc.  There is every reason to
believe that severe deprivation rate will be higher this year.

The growth in deprivation among large families has been
exponential.

Deprivation among large families has more than quadrupled
since the crisis began.  This will no
doubt have increased again by this year. 

The Government was aware of this data when they decided to
cut Child Benefit for larger families.  Why
did they do it?  Because large families are
a small subset of all households with children. 
77 percent of families receiving Child Benefit have fewer than three
children.  Therefore, they weren’t
affected by the cuts.  Indeed, they would
have been, understandably, relieved that their payment wasn’t cut.  By focusing on a portion of a payment that
goes to a relatively small group with little political and economic influence (136,000
families) the Government was able to cut Child Benefit without incurring
political blow-back if they had done it across the board.  Some might say this was politically
clever.  Others might say it was cynical –
especially as the group was targeted as the highest level of deprivation of all
households with children.

So over the next few weeks, when you hear commentators
asking – ‘will the Government cut Child Benefit ‘ – just remember:  they are already cutting it.  And for a group that already suffers disproportionately
from severe material deprivation.