Foreword

Ireland has passed significant reforms over the last three decades to enhance outcomes for children and young people. Despite progress, child poverty remains a concern with some groups, including single-parent households, being disproportionately affected. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these challenges by widening inequalities and having a disproportionate impact on children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. The cost-of-living crisis added further pressure on government to place children and young people at the centre of policy. Trust in government has also been impacted, with only 2 in 10 (or 21%) young people (aged 18-34) reportedly trusting their government in 2022. Further, while young people across OECD countries tend to trust their government less than older age groups, Ireland shows the widest disparities, with a 38-percentage point (p.p.) difference between young people (18-29) and those over 50 compared to a gap of 9 p.p. on average between both age groups across OECD countries.

In this context, Ireland’s Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth requested the support of the Directorate General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) of the European Commission and the OECD in strengthening policy and governance arrangements for tackling child poverty and improving outcomes for children and young people, including implementing Young Ireland, the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People (0-24) 2023-28. This report compiles the research, analysis, and good practices – most prominently from Finland, New Zealand, and Spain – that underpin the OECD assessment and recommendations to support Ireland in these efforts. It also informs the development of a proposed action plan to guide policymakers to build strong governance arrangements underpinning Young Ireland, as well as the execution of capacity-building exercises and peer-learning workshops for child and youth policymakers in Ireland.

The report was prepared by the Youth Empowerment and Intergenerational Justice Unit in the OECD’s Public Governance Directorate (GOV), which led Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5 and 8, and contributed to Chapter 3. Contributions were made by the Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development Goals Division in GOV, which led Chapter 7 and contributed to Chapters 1 and 8. The Child Well-Being Unit in the Centre on Well-being, Inclusion, Sustainability and Equal Opportunity (WISE) prepared Chapter 6, and contributed to Chapters 1, 3, 4, and 7. Finally, the Social Policy Division in the OECD’s Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs (ELS) provided contributions to Chapters 1, 3, 7, and 8.

The report is guided by the OECD Recommendation on Creating Better Opportunities for Young People, the OECD Child Well-being Measurement Framework, and OECD work on Integrated Policymaking for Child Well-Being. It contributes to the OECD programmes of work on public governance for inclusiveness and investing in youth, investing in children’s well-being, and country-specific collaboration. The analysis on public governance was carried out under the auspices of the OECD Public Governance Committee and it is informed by the work and legal standards of the OECD Public Governance Committee, the Committee of Senior Budget Officials, the Regulatory Policy Committee, and their sub-bodies. The analysis on youth and child well-being was carried out under the auspices of the OECD Employment, Labour, and Social Affairs Committee.

The action was funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument, and implemented by the OECD, in co-operation with the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support of the European Commission.