Tá leagan Gaeilge den leathanach seo ar fáil. Féach Suirbhé ar Ioncam agus Dálaí Maireachtála (SILC) : Díothacht Fhorghníomhach 2024.
The percentage of people living in enforced deprivation decreased from 17.3% in 2023 to 15.7% in 2024.
The groups most likely to experience enforced deprivation in 2024 were those living in single-adult households with children under 18 (46.3%); unable to work due to long-standing health problems (38.5%); unemployed (37.8%); and those living in rented or rent-free accommodation (31.5%).
The percentage of people unable to afford to keep their home adequately warm dropped from 7.2% in 2023 to 4.9% in 2024.
The percentage of people who were unable to afford new (not second-hand clothes) went down from 8.1% in 2023 to 6.2% in 2024.
Just over half (51.7%) of households had adequate savings to maintain the same standard of living for at least three months.
The percentage of households in 2024 that regarded housing costs as a heavy financial burden was down on the 2023 rate (29.5% and 30.6% respectively).
Analysis by tenure status shows that 10.7% of rented households had great difficulty in making ends meet in 2024 compared with 3.2% of owner-occupied households.
The SILC household survey is the official source of data on household and individual income, and it provides a number of key national poverty indicators, such as: the at risk of poverty rate, the rate of enforced deprivation, and the consistent poverty rate. This publication focuses on enforced deprivation.
Data collection for SILC was carried out between January to July 2024.
The CSO will issue further results from the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) for 2024 on 20 March 2025. Further results include data on household and individual income, and results for several key national poverty indicators, such as the at risk of poverty rate, the consistent poverty rate, and rates of enforced deprivation.
Further information is available in the Background Notes section.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (11 March 2025) published Enforced Deprivation Results from the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) for 2024.
Commenting on today’s release, Gerry Reilly, Senior Statistician in the Income, Consumption and Wealth Division, said:
“Today’s results from the CSO’s SILC 2024 show an overall decrease in the percentage of people experiencing deprivation in 2024. The release also highlights the higher incidence of deprivation amongst certain groups such as single-adult households with children; persons unable to work due to long-standing health problems; the unemployed; and those living in rented accommodation.
Decrease in Deprivation
People are defined as experiencing enforced deprivation if they live in a household that cannot afford two or more of the 11 basic deprivation items that are considered to be the norm for other households in society, such as being unable to afford to get-together with family or friends for a drink or meal once a month or being unable to afford to keep their home adequately warm. For the full list of deprivation items, see At Risk of Poverty Indicators Explained.
SILC annual data collection occurs during the first six months of the survey year. Taking the mid-point (March) of SILC data collection for survey years 2021 to 2024, prices on average, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose by
The changes seen in enforced deprivation rates over the four-year period 2021 to 2024 reflect the impact of average price changes on households over this period. The proportion of persons living in households experiencing enforced deprivation rose from 13.7% in 2021 to 16.6% in 2022. The rate increased further to 17.3% in 2023 and dropped to 15.7% in 2024.
The deprivation rate was down in nine of the 11 deprivation items in 2024. The largest percentage point decrease was for the percentage of people going without heating at some time during the last 12 months through lack of money (e.g. having to go without a fire on a cold day or going to bed to keep warm) which went down from 10.8% in 2023 to 8.2% in 2024.
Looking at factors such as employment status, household composition, and tenure on deprivation, CSO analysis reveals significant differences in deprivation rates.
Self-Defined Economic Status
Individuals who described themselves as unable to work due to long-standing health problems or as unemployed had the highest rates of enforced deprivation in 2024 at 38.5% and 37.8% respectively. People least likely to experience enforced deprivation were the employed (11.6%) and the retired (6.9%). One in ten (10.0%) people who described themselves as unemployed and a similar proportion (11.4%) of people unable to work due to long-standing health problems were unable to afford to keep the home adequately warm in 2024. In comparison, 3.6% of people who described themselves as employed, and 3.0% of retired persons, were unable to afford to keep the home adequately warm.
Household Composition
Higher rates of deprivation were seen amongst those living in single-adult households with children, with 46.3% living in enforced deprivation; 13.0% were unable to afford to keep the home adequately warm, and one in four (24.5%) unable to afford to get-together with family or friends for a drink or meal once a month.
For people living in households composed of two adults with up to three children under 18, 16.2% experienced enforced deprivation in 2024; 5.2% were unable to afford to keep the home adequately warm, and 11.6% were unable to afford to get-together with family or friends for a drink or meal once a month.
Lower rates of deprivation were seen in elderly households. In households comprised of two-adults where at least one was aged 65 or over, 6.9% of people were living in enforced deprivation in 2024.
Tenure
People living in rented or rent-free accommodation were more likely to be living in enforced deprivation. More than three in ten (31.5%) people living in rented or rent-free accommodation were living in enforced deprivation in 2024, compared with less than one in ten (8.7%) people living in owner-occupied accommodation. People living in rented or rent-free accommodation had higher deprivation rates for each of the 11 deprivation items. For example, 17.9% of people living in rented accommodation could not afford to get-together with family or friends for a drink or meal once a month compared with 6.9% of persons living in owner-occupied dwellings.
Higher Rates of Difficulty in Making Ends Meet for Rented Households
Households were asked to rate their self-perceived level of difficulty in making ends meet, with the answer options being: ‘with great difficulty’; ‘with difficulty’; ‘with some difficulty’; ‘fairly easily’; ‘easily’; ‘very easily’.
In 2024, less than half of households (46.2%) said they had at least some difficulty in making ends meet, down slightly from 47.8% in 2023 and 50.4% in 2022. In 2021, 41.8% of households reported having at least some difficulty in making ends meet. The proportion of households reporting great difficulty in making ends meet in 2024 decreased slightly from the 2023 rate, (5.6% and 6.4% respectively). More than seven in ten (73.0%) single-adult households with children under 18 had at least some difficulty in making ends meet in 2024, with two in ten (21.5%) reporting with great difficulty. In comparison three in ten (30.9%) households composed of two adults, with at least one aged 65 years and over experienced at least some level of difficulty in making ends meet, with 1.1% reporting great difficulty. Analysis by tenure status shows that 10.7% of rented or rent-free households had great difficulty in making ends meet compared with 3.2% of owner-occupied households.
Household Finances and Savings at the End of a Typical Month
Households were asked about their finances at the end of a typical month with the answer options being: ‘put money aside’; ‘need to draw on savings’; ‘need to borrow money’; ‘neither put money aside nor need to draw on savings or borrow’.
At the end of a typical month, more than half of households (55.8%) could put money aside, 5.5% needed to draw from savings, and 3.1% needed to borrow money. Analysis by tenure status shows that 1.8% of owner-occupied households needed to borrow money at the end of a typical month compared with 5.8% of rented or rent-free households.
Households were asked if they were not to receive any income (such as wages, pension, or social welfare payments), how long they would be able to maintain the same standard of living using savings. The answer options to this question were ‘less than three months’; ‘three months or more but less than six’; ‘six months or more but less than 12 months; ‘12 months or more’. Half of households (48.2%) said they could only maintain the same standard of living for less than three months, 20.9% could maintain the same standard for between three and six months, 14.2% for between six months and a year and 16.6% could maintain the same standard of living for 12 months or more. Two in three (67.1%) rented or rent-free households could maintain the same standard of living for less than three months. The comparable rate for owner-occupied households was 39.3%.
Increased Financial Burden of Housing Costs Since 2021
Households were asked the extent to which housing costs are a financial burden to the household. The answer categories were ‘a heavy burden’; ‘somewhat a burden; ‘not a burden at all’.
In 2024, 29.5% of households regarded housing costs as a heavy financial burden, down on the 2023 rate of 30.6% but over six percentage points higher than in 2021 when the rate was 23.1%. Four in ten (41.4%) rented or rent-free households found housing costs to be a heavy burden, compared with 24.0% of owner-occupied households.”