Costs of having children aged 12 or older significantly higher than if you have younger children, report finds

The report analyses the minimum essential standard of ­living (MESL), which equates to a basket of goods and services people agree are needed for an acceptable standard of living.

The MESL is formed by members of the public in focus groups, who agree on “the essentials for a decent life in Irish society”.

The Vincentian MESL Research Centre publishes an annual report on the MESL, providing a snapshot of how the cost of living has changed.

The 2024 report found that the MESL cost of a child aged 12 is €149 a week, compared to €60 for a pre-school child.

Costs for infants have risen significantly since 2020, mostly due to big increases in the costs of baby formula (up 37pc) and nappies (up 84pc).

In January, there were calls for the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to investigate the high cost of baby formula. Junior minister Neale Richmond suggested supermarket vouchers could help lessen the burden of rising costs.

Infant food costs have risen by 7.2pc in the last year, according to the report, and are now 27.3pc higher than in 2020.

The MESL cost of having a child is based on expenses attributed solely to the child excluding other costs.

The biggest decider of costs for a child of secondary school age is full medical card eligibility, which reduces costs to €142 a week.

For each age group, food is the most significant cost, followed by clothing for infant and pre-school children.

Social-inclusion costs are the second biggest cost for school-age children.

Overall household costs went down from 2023 to 2024, but the cumulative increase from 2020 levels to now stands at 16.8pc.

Although total costs are down 1.9pc year-on-year, food costs have risen by 1.5pc in the last year, with a cumulative increase of 21.2pc since 2020.

Urban households (down 24.9pc) and rural households (down 12.2pc) both experienced reductions in energy costs, but these costs also remain higher than 2020 levels. Energy costs for urban households are 62.7pc higher than in 2020, with a 54pc increase for rural households.

SVP’s research also found the national minimum wage is “inadequate” for covering household costs, though the income shortfall for a single adult in full-time minimum-wage work has fallen.

The organisation said in-work supports and affordable childcare and housing “are vital for achieving income adequacy”.

Cost-of-living supports introduced by the Government were generally well received. The report says “without these supports, income inadequacy would be significantly higher”.

Despite increases to social welfare, the research found the level of household income needed to meet food costs has gone up for both working-age households and older couples.

“In 2024, 76pc of test cases have inadequate incomes when reliant on social welfare. This is an improvement from the 87pc of cases in 2023 but remains above the rates of inadequacy found prior to the recent inflation shock,” added the report.