SDG 10.1.1 Growth rates of household expenditure or income per capita among the bottom 40 per cent of the population and the total population is published by CSO, Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC).
Disposable household income is gross household income less total tax, social insurance contributions and inter-household transfers paid. The phrase ‘nominal’ indicates that the figure has not been adjusted for inflation. See SILC Fact Sheet in background notes.
The median nominal household disposable income in 2019 was €43,552, compared with €42,865 in 2018. Figure 4.1 shows that the mean household disposable income in 2019 was €53,118 compared with €51,458 in 2018.
| X-axis label | Median | Mean |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 35280 | 43151 |
| 2011 | 35216 | 41819 |
| 2012 | 33785 | 41399 |
| 2013 | 34436 | 42164 |
| 2014 | 35305 | 43067 |
| 2015 | 37401 | 44827 |
| 2016 | 38953 | 46310 |
| 2017 | 39499 | 48476 |
| 2018 | 42865 | 51458 |
| 2019 | 43552 | 53118 |
Households with one adult aged 65 or over, had the lowest median nominal household disposable income (€16,216). The highest median was €75,284 for other households with children (i.e. households with two adults and four or more children, or households with three or more adults with children). See Figure 4.2.
| X-axis label | 2019 |
|---|---|
| 1 Adult Aged 65 Years and Over | 16216 |
| 1 Adult Aged less than 65 Years | 24059 |
| 2 Adults, at Least 1 Aged 65 Years and Over | 37461 |
| 2 Adults, Both Aged less than 65 Years | 50809 |
| 3 or More Adults | 71125 |
| 1 Adult, with Children under 18 Years | 30293 |
| 2 Adults, with 1-3 Children under 18 Years | 58646 |
| Other Households with Children under 18 Years | 75284 |
Household disposable income rose as the highest level of education attained by the head of household increased. Where the head of household had primary level education or below, the median for nominal household disposable income was €26,527, compared with €66,811 for those with a third level degree or above.
In 2019, households with three or more persons at work had the highest median nominal household disposable income (€95,613), compared with €24,173 for households with no one at work.
Owner-occupied households had a median nominal household disposable income of €47,373 in 2019, compared with €38,558 for rented households.
Households in the Eastern and Midlands region had a median nominal household disposable income of €48,824, compared with €41,612 in the Southern region, and €35,946 in the Northern and Western region. See Table 4.1.
Using a base year of 2012 to adjust for inflation, the median real household disposable income in 2019 was €42,524, compared with €42,183 in 2018. This figure was highest for the Eastern and Midlands region, which recorded a median of €47,672 in 2019. See Table 4.2 and Map 4.1.
Mean Equivalised Net Disposable Income was €27,941 in 2019 compared with €15,692 for the bottom 40% of the income distribution. In 2019 there was a 4.4% growth in mean equivalised net disposable income (nominal). This compares with a 6.7% increase in the figure for people in the bottom 40% of the income distribution. See Table 4.3.
The Assessment of Living Standards during Recovery Period - SILC Overview paper 2018, was published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in July 2018. This paper forms part of the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) Series which aims to apply an evidence based methodology to assess the impact of policy on households’ financial position. The Programme for Government commits to ‘develop the process of budget and policy proofing as a means of advancing equality, reducing poverty and strengthening economic and social rights.’ The Social Impact Assessment (SIA) Framework is a first step in this process. This paper examined SILC data between 2012 and 2016, the most recently available year to determine whether there had been an increase in living standards and incomes following the economic downturn.
Summary
Ireland had an economic downturn between 2008 and 2011 which saw a drop in incomes of 12.6% and a rise in poverty rates. The CSO’s SILC survey shows there was a marked improvement in income between 2012 and 2015. Further increases in 2016 saw incomes return to the peak levels of 2008.
The ‘Assessment of Living Standards during Recovery Period – SILC Overview’ report summarised changes in living standards over the recovery period 2012 to 2016. It examined how these changes differed between various groups and the implications for inequality and poverty.
The latest data indicates:
Overall, the short term outlook for living standards is positive with forecasts pointing to continued employment and earnings growth. However, developments in employment creation and earnings growth may not be evenly spread across the income distribution.
Further details are in the 2018 paper Assessment of Living Standards during Recovery Period - SILC Overview
SDG 10.2.1 Proportion of people living below 50 per cent of median income, by sex, age and persons with disabilities is published by CSO, Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC).
Equivalised income allows for a more meaningful comparison of income across households by accounting for the number of adults and children living in the household and thus allowing analysis at an individualised level. See Poverty Indicators Explained in the background notes.
The median for nominal equivalised disposable income in 2019 was €23,979 and the nominal at risk of poverty threshold stood at €14,387, i.e. 60% of the median. The real value, i.e. at 2012 prices, of the at risk of poverty threshold for 2019 was €14,047, an increase of 4.0% on the real value for 2018 of €13,505.
People aged 65 years and over continued in 2019 to have the lowest median for nominal equivalised disposable income (€20,369), followed by children aged under 0-17 years (€22,455) and people aged 18-64 years (€25,513). See Figure 4.3.
| X-axis label | 0-17 Years | 18-64 Years | 65 Years and Over |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 17011 | 19955 | 16359 |
| 2011 | 17046 | 19544 | 15905 |
| 2012 | 17164 | 18936 | 15612 |
| 2013 | 17072 | 18860 | 16714 |
| 2014 | 17356 | 19064 | 16451 |
| 2015 | 18390 | 20367 | 17772 |
| 2016 | 19191 | 21380 | 18088 |
| 2017 | 19612 | 22223 | 18198 |
| 2018 | 21228 | 24156 | 19647 |
| 2019 | 22455 | 25513 | 20369 |
The median for nominal equivalised disposable income for males was €24,065 in 2019, compared with €23,867 for females.
People with a third level degree or higher continued to have the highest median for nominal equivalised disposable income in 2019 at €35,452, compared with €16,817 for those who had primary education or lower.
People living in households with no one at work had the lowest median for nominal equivalised disposable income in 2019 at €15,889, compared with €31,076 for those in households with three or more people at work. See Table 4.4.
The median for real equivalised disposable income was €23,413 in 2019, 4% higher than 2018. The median for real equivalised disposable income was €25,643 for people living in the Eastern and Midlands region, 28.1% higher than those living in the Northern and Western region (€20,015) and 13.9% above the value for those living in the Southern region (€22,504). See Table 4.5 and Map 4.2.
In 2019, 5.7% of people had an equivalised disposable income of less than 50% of the median equivalised disposable income. See Table 4.6
The proportion of people with an equivalised disposable income of less than 50% of the median equivalised disposable income, by region, gender and age group is shown in Table 4.7
In 2019, of persons with an Equivalised Disposable Income of Less than 50% of the Median, 11.1% were unable to work because of permanent illness or disability. See Table 4.8
The CSO report ‘Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2016’, examines income for both households and individuals by county and by Electoral Division. Income is also examined across the areas of housing, health, education, occupation and commuting.
The primary definition of income used throughout this report is Gross Income. This includes income from employment, self-employment, pensions, rental property, social welfare and further education grants.
The median gross income for households was €45,256 in 2016 and ranged from €32,259 in Donegal to €66,203 in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. Households in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had the highest median income in 2016 at €66,203, followed by Fingal (€58,795) and Kildare (€54,472). Households with the lowest median incomes were in Donegal (€32,259), Leitrim (€34,800) and Longford(€34,892). See Table 4.9 and Map 4.3
Social welfare payments to people of working age made up more than half of the income in 13.7% of households while the state pension formed the majority of income in 12.9%. This gave a total of 26.6% of households where social welfare made up more than half of household income in Ireland in 2016.
Levels of income are impacted by many factors such as gender, general health, level of education and the type of work done. However, besides these factors, this report also showed that place of work had a substantial impact on income. Dublin City had the highest earned income per person working for payment or profit in Ireland at €39,999 in 2016, followed by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown (€37,117) and Cork City (€34,317). The lowest earned incomes per person by county of work were in Donegal (€24,626), Monaghan (€24,903) and Leitrim (€25,962).
Households with the lowest median incomes were in Donegal (€32,259), Leitrim (€34,800) and Longford (€34,892). See Table 4.9 and Map 4.3
SDG 10.3.1 Proportion of population reporting having personally felt discriminated against or harassed in the previous 12 months on the basis of a ground of discrimination prohibited under International Human Rights Law, is published by the CSO, Equality and Discrimination Quarter 1 2019 report.
The survey instrument used to carry out the Equality and Discrimination survey has changed since the survey was last carried out in Quarter 3 2014. Previously it was carried out as a module of the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS). The Labour Force Survey (LFS) has now replaced the QNHS. With this change, surveys previously carried out as modules of the QNHS, are now carried out for the most part in the General Household Survey (GHS). This change has affected sample size. The achieved sample size for the Q1 2019 survey was 3,971 respondents. Further information is available in the background notes of the report. It should be noted that a national sample of this size can be insufficient to report on minority groups.
A new category was included in the 2019 Equality and Discrimination survey which covered discrimination experienced in contact with An Garda Síochána. See the section ‘Discrimination levels over time’ in the 2019 report for more information.
Just under one in five (18%) people aged 18 or over said they felt discriminated against in the two years before the interview.
The highest rates of perceived discrimination in Q1 2019 were reported by:
The rate of discrimination reported by people who do not identify as LGBTI+ at 17.2% was nearly half the rate reported by those who do identify as LGBTI+ at 33.2%.
Only 16.7% of people with no disability reported discrimination compared with 24.1% of those with a disability. See Table 4.10 and Figure 4.4.
| Q1 2019 | |
| At Work | 17.1 |
| Unemployed | 30.2 |
| Student | 21.9 |
| Home Duties | 14.1 |
| Retired | 12.4 |
| LGBTI+ | 33.2 |
| Non LGBTI+ | 17.2 |
| Irish | 16.3 |
| Non Irish | 26.7 |
Type of discrimination
There are many types of discrimination. Workplace discrimination can happen either in the workplace and/or while looking for work. Discrimination experienced in accessing services can happen in many places, including shops, pubs, restaurants, banks, insurance companies, financial institutions, education, looking for housing or accommodation, accessing health services, transport services, other public services and contact with An Garda Síochána.
Discrimination when accessing services was reported by 11.8% of people while 9.4% said they had experienced it in the workplace and/or while looking for work. See Table 4.10.
Persons who experienced workplace discrimination were predominantly from the following groups:
Persons most at risk of experiencing discrimination when accessing services were from the following groups:
Experiencing both types of discrimination – in the workplace and in accessing services – was reported by just 3.5% of people aged 18 years and over.
About one in ten people who were unemployed (10.8%) or who were from a non-white ethnic background (10.1%) experienced both types of discrimination. Just 3.9% of people who identified as LGBTI+ experienced both types of discrimination. See Table 4.11.
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