Poverty Indicators by Health Status - Survey on Income and Living Conditions SILC 2024

At Risk of Poverty

In March 2025, the CSO published Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) 2024. The publication focused on poverty and income indicators and results were published by demographic and other characteristics.

An individual is defined as being at risk of poverty if their nominal equivalised disposable income is under the at risk of poverty threshold, i.e. 60% of the median nominal equivalised disposable income for the State. The 2024 at risk of poverty threshold was €17,998. See At Risk of Poverty Indicators Explained (PDF 1,094KB) .

The annual SILC contains questions required for the Minimum European Health Module (MEHM). These questions allow for analysis of poverty status for respondents aged 16 years and older by:

1. Self-perceived general health status
2. Chronic morbidity status and
3. Activity limitations (the presence of long-standing activity limitation due to health problems measured via the Global Activity Limitation Indicator (GALI).

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. The questions and answer options for self-perceived general health status and chronic morbidity status can also be found in the Editor’s Note.

The Risk of Poverty Increases as General Health Status Declines

In 2024, the at risk of poverty rate for people aged 16 years and older was 10.8%, up from 9.5% in 2023. The 2024 at risk of poverty rate for people aged 16 years and older who perceived their general health as ‘very bad’ was three times the rate for those with a ‘very good’ perception of their health (25.5% and 8.2% respectively). See Figure 3.1 and PxStat table SIH02.

People with a Chronic Illness More Likely to be at Risk of Poverty

The at risk of poverty rate for people with a self-reported chronic illness was 15.5%, about six percentage points higher than the rate for those without a chronic illness (9.1%). See Figure 3.2, Table 3.1 and PxStat table SIH03.

The Rate of People with Severe Activity Limitations at Risk of Poverty is Double that of those Not so Limited

More than double the percentage of people aged 16 years and older with long-standing severe activity limitations due to health problems (GALI) were at risk of poverty in 2024 compared to those persons who were ‘not limited at all’ (22.9% and 9.0% respectively). The comparable rate for those ‘limited but not severely’ was 16.9%. See Figure 3.3 and PxStat table SIH04.

Consistent Poverty

The consistent poverty measure is defined as people who are both at risk of poverty and experiencing enforced deprivation. The consistent poverty rate for people aged 16 years and older was 4.0% in SILC 2024 compared with 3.2% for the previous year.

Consistent poverty rates increase with worsening general health

Analysis by self-perceived general health status shows that consistent poverty rates increase with worsening general health. The consistent poverty rate for people who perceived their general health as ‘very bad’ was over twice as high than for people with ‘very good’ health (6.3% and 2.6% respectively). For those who described their general health as ‘bad’, the consistent poverty rate increased from 13.3% to 18.5% between 2023 and 2024. See Figure 3.4 and PxStat table SIH02.

People with a Chronic Illness are Twice as Likely to be Living in Consistent Poverty

The consistent poverty rate for those who reported a chronic illness was 6.7% compared with 3.1% of people without a chronic illness. See Figure 3.5, Table 3.1 and PxStat table SIH03.

People with Severe Limitations are over Three Times More Likely to be Living in Consistent Poverty as Those with No Limitations

The 2024 consistent poverty rate for people ‘severely limited’ in usual activities (GALI) was over three times higher than the rate for those ‘not limited’ (10.6% and 3.1% respectively). The consistent poverty rate for people ‘limited but not severely’ was 7.0%. See Figure 3.6 and PxStat table SIH04.

Impact of Cost-of-living Measures on Poverty

In 2023, the Government announced a series of cost-of-living measures aimed at helping households meet higher costs. The annual average rate of inflation in 2023 was +6.3%. The largest price increases were recorded for Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels at 16.1%. For further information see Consumer Price Index December 2023.

In this section, poverty rates are calculated ‘Excluding cost-of-living measures’ (what poverty rates would have been if cost-of-living measures were not implemented in 2023). ‘Excluding cost-of-living measures’ calculates the at risk of poverty rate using the standard at risk of poverty threshold of €17,998.

The cost-of-living measures that were considered when calculating poverty rates ‘Excluding cost-of-living measures’ are listed below.

Budget cost-of-living measures that were paid/implemented in 2023 included:

• two universal €200 energy credit applied to domestic electricity customer accounts in the January/March 2023 billing cycle.
• €200 lump sum payment to be paid in April to people in receipt of long-term social welfare payments;
• €200 payment for Working Family Payment recipients who have not received the lump sum on their primary payment, to be paid in April;
• €100 Child Benefit additional lump sum payment per child;
• €100 one-off increase in the Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance.

Budget 2024 contained additional cost-of-living measures that were paid to individuals and households during the latter part of 2023. Budget cost-of-living measures that were paid/implemented in 2023 included:

• a double monthly payment for Child Benefit for each child on 05 December 2023;
• a €300 lump sum Fuel Allowance payment to all households that were in receipt of the Fuel Allowance;
• a €200 cost-of-living lump sum payment for pensioners and people in receipt of the Living Alone Increase;
• a €400 cost-of-living lump sum payment to recipients of the Working Family Payment;
• a €400 cost-of-living lump sum payment for people getting the Carer’s Support Grant;
• a €400 cost-of-living lump sum for people in receipt of Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension or Blind Pension;
• a €100 cost-of-living lump sum payment for people with a qualified child;
• a universal €150 energy credit applied to domestic electricity customer accounts in December 2023.

The income reference period of SILC in year T is the calendar year T-1, therefore 2024 poverty rates were calculated by using January to December 2023 income. The electricity credits that households received in 2023 are treated as income in the SILC survey.

Impact of Cost-of-living Measures on Poverty Rates by Self-perceived Health Status

Cost-of-living measures reduced the at risk of poverty rate for persons aged 16 years and over across all self-reported health status categories in 2024. The at risk of poverty rate for those reporting ‘very good’ general health in 2024 was 8.2%, whereas if cost-of-living measures were excluded the rate would have been 10.0%. In contrast, those reporting ‘very bad’ general health in 2024 had an at risk of poverty rate of 25.5%, excluding cost-of-living measures the rate would have been 27.9%. See Figure 3.7 and PxStat table SIH08.

Impact of the Cost-of-living Measures on Poverty Rates by Chronic Illness Status

As mentioned earlier in this chapter, the at risk of poverty rate for people with a self-reported chronic illness was 15.5%. However, if the cost-of-living measures are excluded from income, their at risk of poverty rate would have been 19.2%. The at risk of poverty rate for people without a self-reported chronic illness was 9.1%, without cost-of-living measures the rate would have been 11.2%. See Figure 3.8 and PxStat table SIH09.

Impact of the Cost-of-living Measures on Poverty Rates by GALI Status

In 2024, the at risk of poverty rate for those ‘severely limited’ (GALI) was 22.9%, without cost-of-living measures the rate would have been 28.6%. For persons ‘not limited’, their at risk of poverty rate would have been 11.1% without cost-of-living measures compared with their actual at risk of poverty rate of 9.0%. See Figure 3.9 and PxStat table SIH10.