This article is from page 6 of the 2013-04-16 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
MORE than half of the entire Traveller population in Clare is aged 17 years or younger.
According to The State of the Nation’s Children report released last week, there were a total of 468 Traveller children in Clare in 2011 – the last year on record.
The 2011 census revealed that there were 855 Travellers resident in the county, 417 males and 438 females. These figures mean that just under 55 per cent of the Travellers based in Clare are under 18 years.
The report also indicated that the number of Clare children born to members of the Travelling community has skyrocketed over the last decade. According to the 2002 State of the Nation’s Children report, there were just 401 Traveller children resident in the county. This amounts to an increase of 16.7 per cent in a nine year period.
Meanwhile, the number of children living with a lone parents has also increased dramatically over the past 10 years. According to the report there was a total of 4,348 children living in a single parent household in 2011. This amounts to 14.7 per cent of all children resident in the county for that year.
This number shows a marked increase on the same report carried out in 2002 when there were 3,412 children living in lone parents household in Clare, or 12.3 per cent of the total number of children in Clare.
The annual State of the Nation’s Children report compiles a variety of statistical information about young people in County Clare. Figures in the report show that there were 933 reports of child welfare and protection issues reported to the HSE concerning Clare children in 2011.
The report also revealed that there were a total of 1,163 families with children in need of social housing in Clare in 2011. Of these families, 667 are lone parent families, while 496 are families with two or more children.
This means that 2.7 per cent of Clare families with children were identified as being in need of social housing. However, the total of lone parent families in need of social housing is much higher at 15.34 per cent.