One in three Irish families went into arrears last year, new Barnardos report reveals

A new report from Barnardos has laid bare just how much Irish families are still struggling under the weight of the cost of living — and the picture it paints is deeply uncomfortable reading. More than one third of families went into arrears on their energy bills at some point in the past year. Nearly one in three parents said there were moments they didn’t have enough food to feed their children. And almost two in five borrowed money just to get through.

These aren’t edge cases. This is happening in households across the country right now, and the Cost of Living – Impact on Children 2026 report, commissioned by Barnardos and carried out by Amárach Research, puts the data behind what so many parents have already been living quietly.

The numbers behind the struggle

The survey, which questioned 1,000 parents and guardians of children under 18, found that the pressure on families has worsened across almost every area compared to 2025.

• Energy: 36% of families went into arrears on energy bills over the past 12 months, up from 32% the previous year. One in five parents had to go without or cut back on heating.

• Food: 20% of parents said they and/or their children had to go without or cut back on food. 44% skipped meals or reduced portion sizes so their children would have enough to eat. 30% felt at some point they didn’t have enough food to feed their children. Food bank usage rose from 12% to 16%.

• Fuel: More than half of parents (55%) were worried about having enough money to put fuel in the car.

• Essentials: 36% went without or cut back on clothing. 17% cut back on medical or health appointments.

• Debt: Two in five parents (39%) borrowed money at least once over the past 12 months. Almost one third said they are always worried about being able to provide their children with the basics.

Only one in five parents said cost of living pressures have not negatively affected their child. That means four out of five families are feeling it in some way.

The voices behind the statistics

What makes this report particularly hard to read are the words of parents themselves. They’re the kind of things you might hear whispered between parents at the school gate, or never hear at all because the shame of it runs too deep.

“Yes we live, we have what we need, but no room for anything to go wrong or to actually live.”

“I have a reasonably good job, but every month is the same — nothing left for anything once the bills and food and medication costs are spent. Isolated often at home, child sees me constantly stressed and budgeting/worrying about bills.”

“My son takes expensive medication for ADHD that is not covered under DPS. I had to go into debt to get him assessed privately to even get these medications to help him get through school. This extra cost has almost broken me.”

“I have given up on those things for myself a long time ago to be able to provide them for my kids.”

The report also highlights the particular pressure on one-parent families. Children in those households are twice as likely to have been significantly negatively impacted compared to children in two-parent households — 32% versus 17%. Nearly half of single parents (43%) said they are always worried about providing daily essentials for their children, compared to 24% of two-parent families.

Income level also plays a stark role. Parents with household incomes under €30,000 were four times more likely to go without food than those earning over €80,000. Two thirds of lower-income families borrowed money to provide children with essentials.

What Barnardos is calling for

Barnardos National Policy Manager Stephen Moffatt said the charity witnesses first-hand the damage that deprivation does to children — not just in the short term but across their entire childhoods.

“We witness first-hand the impact deprivation has on the children we support across the country and the negative effect it has on their entire childhoods including their health and wellbeing, relationships and ability to engage in school,” he said. “For many, it is the cause of additional adversities within the home or an exacerbating factor, such as parental separation, poor parental mental health, homelessness, and addiction.”

He added: “The Government has set an ambitious child poverty target to be reached over the next five years. This needs to be backed up by targeted actions that better guarantee children live in warm homes, with sufficient nutrition and appropriate clothing and have the opportunity to engage in sporting and cultural activities, because childhood lasts a lifetime.”

Barnardos is calling on the Government to take three specific actions: increase the Child Support Payment by €10 for under-12s and €15 for those over 12 and commit to raising it in line with inflation; increase the income disregard for one-parent family payments and extend the living at home allowance to one-parent families; and increase the fuel allowance by €5 per week while committing to reducing the disparity in energy costs between those on prepaid meters and those on bill pay.

Five years of this report. Five years of the same story getting worse. The Government’s child poverty targets for 2030 sound well-intentioned, but the families in this data are already out of time. You can read the full Barnardos Cost of Living – Impact on Children 2026 report on the Barnardos website.