The income reference period of SILC in year T is the calendar year T-1, i.e. for SILC 2023 the income relates to Jan-Dec 2022.
In 2023, 13.0% of people who said they were severely limited in usual activities because of a health problem were unable to afford to keep their home adequately warm. The comparable rate for people who were not limited was 5.5%.
Overall, 15.3% of households with a severely limited household member reported there was at least one occasion in the past 12 months where they failed to pay a utility bill on time due to financial difficulties, compared with 4.8% of households where no one was described as activity limited.
The at risk of poverty rate for people with a self-reported chronic illness was 12.0%, compared with 8.4% for those without a chronic illness.
The enforced deprivation rate for people who described their health as very bad was 38.9%, while the rate for those with very good health was almost four times lower at 10.6%.
The consistent poverty rate for people severely limited in usual activities because of a health problem was almost four times higher than the rate for those not limited (8.9% and 2.4% respectively).
Four in ten (40.9%) households with a severely limited household member regarded total housing costs as a heavy financial burden compared with 27.1% of households where no one was limited.
The annual Survey of Income and Living Condition (SILC) results are weighted using population estimates which are generated on an ongoing basis. Census of Population 2022 results have been used to revise population estimates for 2020 to 2022, and consequently results for SILC survey years 2020, 2021, and 2022 are revised. Please see the Information Note which compares published and revised results.
The SILC is a household survey covering a broad range of topics related to income and living conditions. It is the official source of data on household and individual income and provides a number of key national poverty indicators, such as the at risk of poverty rate, the consistent poverty rate, and rates of enforced deprivation. This is the fourth publication from the 2023 round of the SILC. This publication focuses on poverty related indicators, analysed by self-reported health status variables.
Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC): Enforced Deprivation 2023 which was published 07 March 2024 focused on deprivation.
Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) 2023, published 07 March 2024, focused on poverty and income indicators.
Well-Being 2023 Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC), published 16 May 2024, focused on life satisfaction and other well-being indicators.
To determine Global Activity Limitation Indicator (GALI) status, SILC survey respondents aged 16 years and older were asked the following question with three answer options.
Q. Are you limited because of a health problem in activities people usually do? Would you say you are:
Respondents who answered ‘Severely limited’ or ‘Limited but not severely’ were asked a further question:
Q. Have you been limited for at least the past six months?
Respondents who were severely limited in usual activities for at least six months prior to their interview date are classified as ‘severely limited’, while those limited but not severely for at least six months are classified as ‘limited but not severely’. Respondents who answered, ‘Not limited at all’, along with respondents limited for less than six months, are classified as ‘not limited’.
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.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (25 June 2024) issued further results from the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) for 2023. This report presents results for poverty indicators for people aged 16 years and older analysed against their self-perceived general health status, long-standing limitations in usual activities, and self-reported chronic illness status.
The Global Activity Limitation Indicator (GALI) measures long-standing health related activity limitations. The Editor’s Note below describes the questions used to derive the GALI status of survey respondents aged 16 years and older. The note also includes the questions asked and associated answer options related to respondents’ self-perceived general health and the presence of a chronic illness.
Commenting on today’s publication, Paul Christopher, Statistician in the Income, Consumption and Wealth Division, said:
“Today’s results from the CSO’s SILC 2023 show that poverty rates and rates of enforced deprivation are higher for people with poorer health.
Deprivation Rates
Households that are excluded and marginalised from consuming goods and services which are considered the norm for other people in society due to an inability to afford them are considered to be deprived. In SILC, the identification of people living in enforced deprivation is currently achieved based on a set of 11 basic deprivation indicators (See Survey on Income and Living Conditions Fact Sheet
People severely limited for at least six months in usual activities because of a health problem had higher rates of deprivation for each of the 11 deprivation indicators when compared with those not limited. For example, 13.0% of people who were severely limited were unable to afford to keep their home adequately warm compared with 5.5% of people who were not limited.
In 2023, 22.5% of people who were severely limited were unable to afford new (not second-hand) clothes. This was four times the rate for people who were not limited (5.6%). About 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 was more than double the rate (9.5%) for people not limited in usual activities.
Enforced deprivation is where a household experiences two or more of the 11 deprivation items. The 2023 enforced deprivation rate was 16.3% for persons aged 16 and over. This rate varied greatly depending on the self-perceived health status, chronic illness status, and long-standing activity limitation status of survey respondents. The enforced deprivation rate for people who described their health in general as very bad was almost four times higher than the rate for those with very good health (38.9% and 10.6% respectively). The enforced deprivation rate was nearly double the rate for those with a self-reported chronic illness when compared with those without a chronic illness (24.1% and 13.3% respectively). In 2023, almost one in three (32.0%) people who described themselves as severely limited in usual activities were living in enforced deprivation. This compares with 25.4% of people who were limited but not severely and 13.5% of those not limited.
Poverty Rates by Self-Reported Health status
The 2023 at risk of poverty rate for persons aged 16 and over was 9.5%, down from 12.0% in 2022. The 2023 rate for people with a self-reported chronic illness was 12.0%, compared with 8.4% for those without a chronic illness. The at risk of poverty rate for people who perceived their health as very bad was more than double the rate for those with a very good perception of their health (19.7% and 7.8% respectively). More than one in six (16.5%) people who were severely limited in usual activities were at risk of poverty in 2023. The comparable rate for those limited but not severely was 13.0%, and 8.3% for those who were not limited.
The consistent poverty measure is defined as people who are both at risk of poverty and experiencing enforced deprivation. In 2023, 3.2% of the people aged 16 and over were living in consistent poverty. The rate for people severely limited in usual activities was 8.9%, almost four times higher than the 2.4% rate for those not limited.
Arrears in Utility Bills
Overall, 15.3% of households with a person severely limited in usual activities for a period of at least six months reported there was at least one occasion in the 12 months prior to their date of interview when they failed to pay a utility bill on time due to financial difficulties. The comparable rate for households where all household members were not limited was 4.8%. Households with a severely limited household member reported greater difficulty in making ends meet and greater financial burden of total housing costs. In 2023, one in five (19.9%) households with a severely limited household member reported great difficulty in making ends meet. The rate for households where all household members were not limited was 3.7%.
Households were asked the extent to which housing costs (rent, mortgage, utility costs, home insurance, and regular maintenance and repair costs) were a burden. The answer categories were: a heavy burden; somewhat a burden; or not a burden at all. Four in ten (40.9%) households with a severely limited household member considered housing costs a heavy burden. This was significantly higher than the rate for households where all household members were not limited (27.1%).