In the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC), households are deemed to be living in enforced deprivation when they experience two or more of the 11 national deprivation items. See Survey on Income and Living Conditions Fact Sheet (PDF 494KB)
In March 2024, the CSO published Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) Enforced Deprivation 2023 which focused on the types of deprivation experienced and enforced deprivation rates by demographic and other characteristics. Deprivation rates for the total population usually resident in private households are reported in the March 2024 publication. This publication differs from the Enforced Deprivation publication as results are restricted to persons aged 16 years and over who are usually resident in private accommodation.
The most common deprivation items in 2023 for people aged 16 years and older[1] were; being unable to afford to replace worn out furniture (16.8%), being unable to get together once a month with family or friends for a drink or a meal (11.3%), or being unable to afford a morning, afternoon or evening out in the last fortnight (10.7%) (See Figure 2.1 and Table SIH01).
[1] Please note that statistics produced in this publication are in relation to all persons aged 16 years and over, as opposed to all persons, irrespective of age in the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) Enforced Deprivation 2023 publication.
| X-axis label | % of Individuals aged 16 years and over |
|---|---|
| Unable to afford to replace any worn out furniture | 16.8 |
| Unable to afford to get together once a month with family or friends for a drink or a meal | 11.3 |
| Unable to afford a morning, afternoon or evening out in last fortnight | 10.7 |
| Without heating at some stage in the last year | 10.6 |
| Unable to afford new (not second-hand) clothes | 7.7 |
| Unable to afford to keep the home adequately warm | 6.7 |
| Unable to afford to buy presents for family or friends at least once a year | 5.1 |
| Unable to afford a roast joint (or its equivalent) once a week | 4.2 |
| Unable to afford two pairs of shoes that are suitable for daily activities | 1.9 |
| Unable to afford a meal with meat, chicken, fish (or vegetarian equivalent) every second day | 1.6 |
| Unable to afford a warm waterproof coat | 1.1 |
The Global Activity Limitation Indicator (GALI) measures long-standing health related activity limitations. The Editor’s Note in the Key findings section of this report describes the questions used to derive the GALI status of survey respondents aged 16 years and older.
Analysis of deprivation experienced in 2023 by the GALI status of survey respondents shows that people severely limited for at least six months in usual activities because of health problems had higher rates of deprivation for each of the 11 deprivation indicators when compared with those who were not limited. Overall, 13.0% of people severely limited were unable to afford to keep their home adequately warm compared with 5.5% of those not limited in activity.
In 2023, people severely limited in usual activities were four times more likely to be unable to afford new clothes when compared with those not limited (22.5% and 5.6% respectively). More than one in five (21.9%) severely limited people were unable to afford to get together once a month with family or friends for a drink or a meal. This compared with one in ten (9.5%) people not limited. One percent (1.0%) of people not limited (because of a health problem) in usual activities for at least six months were unable to afford a meal with meat, chicken, or fish (or vegetarian equivalent) every second day. The rate for severely limited people was five times higher (5.2%) (See Figure 2.2 and Table SIH01).
| X-axis label | Severely limited | Not limited |
|---|---|---|
| Unable to afford to replace any worn out furniture | 30.8 | 13.6 |
| Unable to afford new (not second-hand) clothes | 22.5 | 5.6 |
| Unable to afford to get together once a month with family or friends for a drink or a meal | 21.9 | 9.5 |
| Without heating at some stage in the last year | 20.5 | 9.1 |
| Unable to afford a morning, afternoon or evening out in last fortnight | 17.7 | 9.2 |
| Unable to afford to keep the home adequately warm | 13 | 5.5 |
| Unable to afford to buy presents for family or friends at least once a year | 11.3 | 4.1 |
| Unable to afford a roast joint (or its equivalent) once a week | 10.4 | 3.1 |
| Unable to afford two pairs of shoes that are suitable for daily activities | 9 | 1.3 |
| Unable to afford a meal with meat, chicken, fish (or vegetarian equivalent) every second day | 5.2 | 1 |
| Unable to afford a warm waterproof coat | 3.3 | 1.1 |
1The Global Activity Limitation Indicator (GALI) measures long-standing health related activity limitations
Enforced deprivation is where a household experiences two or more of the 11 deprivation items referenced above. The percentage of people aged 16 years and older living in households experiencing enforced deprivation increased marginally, from 16.0% in 2022 to 16.3% in 2023.
Analysis by the GALI status of survey respondents shows that the enforced deprivation rate in 2023 for severely limited people dropped by nearly ten percentages points from the 2022 rate (32.0% and 41.9% respectively). In 2021, the enforced deprivation rate for severely limited people was 32.8%.
The enforced deprivation rate for people who were limited but not severely was 25.4% in 2023, relatively unchanged from the 2022 rate (25.8%). For those not limited the 2023 rate was 13.5%, up by a percentage point from 12.5% in 2022 (See Figure 2.3 and Table SIH04).
| X-axis label | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Severely limited | 32.8 | 41.9 | 32 |
| Limited but not severely | 19.8 | 25.8 | 25.4 |
| Not limited | 10.3 | 12.5 | 13.5 |
| State | 12.7 | 16 | 16.3 |
1 The Global Activity Limitation Indicator (GALI) measures long-standing health related activity limitations
Survey respondents aged 16 years and over were asked two additional questions related to their health.
The first one related to self-perceived general health:
Q. How would you describe your health in general? Is it:
The second related to the presence of chronic morbidity.
Q. Do you have any long-standing illness or longstanding health problem? By long-standing I mean illnesses or health problems which have lasted, or are expected to last, for six months or more.
Analysis of enforced deprivation rates by self-perceived general health status shows that people with bad health have much higher rates of enforced deprivation when compared with those with good health. For example, the enforced deprivation rate for people who described their health in general as very bad was 38.9%, almost four times the rate for people with very good health (10.6%) (See Figure 2.4 and Table SIH02).
| X-axis label | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very Good | 7.4 | 11.5 | 10.6 |
| Good | 13.4 | 13.4 | 15.8 |
| Fair | 20.2 | 28.7 | 24.2 |
| Bad | 33.8 | 37.5 | 41.1 |
| Very bad | 47.3 | 42.1 | 38.9 |
| State | 12.7 | 16 | 16.3 |
The enforced deprivation rate was significantly higher for those with a self-reported chronic illness when compared with those without a chronic illness (24.1% and 13.3% respectively) (See Figure 2.5 and Table SIH03).
| X-axis label | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Has a chronic illness | 19.7 | 25.5 | 24.1 |
| Does not have a chronic illness | 10 | 12.2 | 13.3 |
| State | 12.7 | 16 | 16.3 |
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