2014-04-22 - Socio Economic Review 2014 - Full text and cover - FINAL

S O C I O - E C O N O M I C R E V I E W 2 0 1 4
Annex 3
I N C O M E D I S T R I B U T I O N
To accompany chapter 3, this annex outlines details of the composition of poverty
in Ireland over recent years alongside offering an overview of Ireland’s income
distribution over the past two decades. It also reviews the process by which the basic
social welfare payment became benchmarked to 30 per cent of Gross Average
Industrial Earnings. The material underpins the development of many of the policy
positions we have outlined in chapter 3.
poverty - Who are the poor?
Two interchangeable phrases have been used to describe those living on incomes
below the poverty line: ‘living in poverty’ and ‘at risk of poverty’. The latter term is the
most recent, introduced following a European Council meeting in Laeken in 2001
where it was agreed that those with incomes below the poverty line should be
termed as being ‘at risk of poverty’.
The results of the SILC survey provided a breakdown of those below the poverty line.
This section reviews those findings and provides a detailed assessment of the
different groups in poverty.
Table A3.1 presents figures for the risk of poverty facing people when they are
classified by their principal economic status (the main thing that they do). These
risk figures represent the proportion of each group that are found to be in receipt of
a disposable income below the 60 per cent median income poverty line. In 2011 the
groups within the Irish population that were at highest risk of poverty included the
unemployed and those not at work due to illness or a disability. Almost one in five
classified as being “on home duties”, mainly women, have an income below the
poverty line. The “student and school attendees” category represents a combination
of individuals living in poor families while completing their secondary education
and those attending post-secondary education but with low incomes. The latter
element of this group are not a major policy concern, given that they are likely to
only experience poverty while they gain education and skills which should ensure
Annex 3 – Income Distribution 263