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5.1 Ireland: Life expectancy at birth and at 65 years, 1925-2007
       
years
 At birthAt 65 years
PeriodMenWomenDifferenceMenWomenDifference
1925-192757.457.90.512.813.40.6
1935-193758.259.61.412.513.10.6
1940-194259.061.02.012.313.20.9
1945-194760.562.41.912.013.11.1
1950-195264.567.12.612.113.31.2
1960-196268.171.93.812.614.41.8
1965-196768.672.94.312.414.72.3
1970-197268.873.54.712.415.02.6
1978-198069.575.05.512.415.43.0
1980-198270.175.65.512.615.73.1
1985-198771.076.75.712.616.23.6
1990-199272.377.95.613.417.13.7
1995-199773.078.55.513.817.43.6
2001-200375.180.35.215.418.73.3
2005-200776.881.64.816.619.83.2
Source: CSO Irish Life Tables No 15, 2005-2007

 

  • In Ireland, women's life expectancy at birth increased from 57.9 years in the period 1925-1927 to 81.6 years in 2005-2007. Over the same period, the life expectancy at birth of men increased from 57.4 years to 76.8 years.
  • The difference between male and female life expectancy at birth increased from 0.5 years in 1925-1927 to 5.7 years in 1985-1987 before decreasing to 4.8 years in 2005-2007.
  • The difference between male and female life expectancy at 65 years of age increased from 0.6 years in 1925-1927 to 3.7 years in 1990-1992.  However, this difference had decreased to 3.2 years by 2005-2007.
5.2 EU: Life expectancy at birth, 2012
    
years
CountryMalesFemalesDifference
Sweden79.983.63.7
Italy79.884.85.0
Spain79.585.56.0
Netherlands79.383.03.7
United Kingdom79.182.83.7
Luxembourg79.183.84.7
Cyprus78.983.44.5
Ireland78.783.24.5
France78.785.46.7
Malta78.683.04.4
Germany78.683.34.7
Austria78.483.65.2
Denmark78.182.14.0
Greece78.083.45.4
Belgium77.883.15.3
Finland77.783.76.0
EU 77.583.15.6
Portugal77.383.66.3
Slovenia77.183.36.2
Czech Republic75.181.26.1
Croatia73.980.66.7
Poland72.781.18.4
Slovakia72.579.97.4
Hungary71.678.77.1
Estonia71.481.510.1
Romania71.078.17.1
Bulgaria70.977.97.0
Latvia68.978.910.0
Lithuania68.479.611.2
    
Iceland81.684.32.7
Switzerland80.684.94.3
Norway79.583.54.0
Turkey74.880.55.7
Macedonia73.076.93.9
Source: Eurostat

 

  • Life expectancy at birth in 2012 for Irish males was 78.7 years, over one year higher than the EU average of 77.5 years.  Irish females born in 2012 could expect to live to 83.2 years, just above the EU average of 83.1 years.
  • The highest male life expectancy at birth in 2012 was in Sweden at 79.9 years while the lowest was in Lithuania at 68.4 years.
  • The highest female life expectancy at birth was 85.5 years in Spain with the lowest in Bulgaria at 77.9 years.
  • The lowest difference between female and male life expectancy at birth in 2012 was 3.7 years in Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom with the largest gap in Lithuania at 11.2 years.
5.3 Ireland: Age-sex specific death rates, 2012
  
per 100,000 population
Age groupMalesFemalesMale:Female ratio
0-487751.2:1
5-141091.1:1
15-2468223.1:1
25-642751671.6:1
65-741,9341,1771.6:1
75 and over8,3187,1271.2:1
Source: CSO Vital Statistics

 

  • The death rate in Ireland was higher for males than for females in all age groups in 2012.
  • The most pronounced difference was in the 15-24 age group where the male death rate was more than three times that of the female rate.
Open in Excel:
WomenMen
20021751.944012441682981.19658119658
20031623.456790123462770.13422818792
20041582.635186595582711.23872026251
20051533.733133433282535.25641025641
20061394.440270473332483.69132856006
20071463.649851632052329.96894409938
20081328.776978417272347.92452830189
20091304.74198047422190.85631349782
20101311.06612685562060.01395673412
20111249.186727391022002.6936026936
20121177.135678391961933.54838709677

 

  • The death rate for the 65-74 age group decreased by over a third for men (35.1%) over the period 2002-2012.
  • Over the same time period the death rate for women decreased by just under a third, falling by 32.8%.
5.5 Ireland: Mortality by cause of death, 2012
  
numberper 100,000 population
Cause of deathMenWomenMenWomen
Circulatory diseases4,6564,611205199
Malignant neoplasms4,5773,967202171
Accidents6333232814
Suicide41394184
Source: CSO Vital Statistics

 

  • The mortality rate due to accidents for men (28 per 100,000) was twice that of women in 2012.
  • The male mortality rate due to suicide (18 per 100,000) was over four times the female rate.
5.6 Ireland: Persons with a medical card, 2013
   
%
Age GroupMenWomen
0-1540.439.8
16-24 36.943.2
25-34 27.432.9
35-44 30.133.6
45-54 31.031.4
55-64 33.635.7
65-6943.655.8
70+89.993.8
Total38.342.2
Persons registered 871,086978,294
Source: HSE, CSO Census of Population

 

  • In 2013, 38.3% of males and 42.2% of females in Ireland had a medical card.
  • About 40% of boys and girls aged up to 15 years old had a medical card in 2013. However for all other age groups more women than men had a medical card, with the difference most pronounced in the 65-69 age group where 43.6% of men had a medical card compared to 55.8% of women.
  • Between 2001 and 2008 all persons aged 70 and over were entitled to a medical card. However, from January 2009 only persons with income under certain limits are entitled to a card, see Appendix 1 for further details. By 2013 89.9% of men and 93.8% of women aged 70 and over had a medical card.
5.7 Ireland: Acute hospital discharges by principal diagnosis, 20121
   
%
DiagnosisMalesFemales
Neoplasms8.47.5
Diseases of the nervous system and sense organs5.04.9
Circulatory diseases6.43.9
Respiratory diseases5.74.6
Digestive diseases10.08.6
Genitourinary diseases3.45.7
Pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium0.015.0
Symptoms, signs and ill-defined conditions8.48.1
Injury and poisoning4.53.0
Other diagnoses 18.114.4
Supplementary classifications30.124.2
   of which Dialysis14.17.8
Total100.0100.0
Total discharges per 1,000 population310.9360.3
Source: Hospital Inpatient Enquiry (HIPE), Information Unit, Department of Health
 
1 HIPE data covers discharges from all publicly funded acute hospitals.

 

  • In 2012 the rate of discharges from acute hospitals was 310.9 per 1,000 population for males and 360.3 per 1,000 for females.
  • 15% of conditions diagnosed for women related to pregnancy and childbirth. The most common single condition diagnosed for males (apart from "other diagnoses") was dialysis at 14.1% of discharges.
5.8 Ireland: Acute hospital discharges by patient type, 2002-2012
       
per 1,000 population
           Day patients          In-patients          All patients
YearMalesFemalesMalesFemalesMalesFemales
200285.295.2118.9156.2204.1251.3
200393.0102.8117.1158.1210.1260.9
2004100.9109.6117.1160.4218.0270.0
2005103.0111.7114.9158.3217.9270.0
2006161.2151.6115.6159.8276.8311.4
2007167.9160.7112.9160.8280.8321.5
2008173.6170.3108.3158.1281.9328.4
2009182.5179.6106.3154.1288.8333.7
2010193.4183.7105.0153.1298.4336.8
2011195.0191.4104.5152.7299.5344.1
2012199.6199.9111.3160.4310.9360.3
Source: Hospital Inpatient Enquiry (HIPE), Information Unit, Department of Health
       
1 HIPE Data includes discharges from all publicly funded acute hospitals.

 

  • The rate of discharges for day patients in 2012 was 199.6 per 1,000 for males and 199.9 for females.  Data for years from 2006 onwards include patients admitted for dialysis on a day care basis which was previously excluded and thus there is a discontinuity in the data between years 2005 and 2006 in the series on day patients.
  • Discharges of in-patients decreased for men over the period 2002-2011 from 118.9 per 1,000 to 104.5 before rising to 111.3 in 2012.
  • Discharges of in-patients for females increased from 156.2 per 1,000 in 2002 to 160.8 in 2007 before falling to 152.7 in 2011 and then rising to 160.4 in 2012.
5.9 Ireland: Persons with an intellectual disability by level of disability, 2012
  
  number %
LevelMenWomenMenWomen
Mild5,2133,91332.733.5
Moderate6,2834,77439.440.9
Severe2,3491,73314.714.9
Profound5264383.33.8
Not verified1,5818129.97.0
Total15,95211,670100.0100.0
Source: National Intellectual Disability Database

 

  • There were 27,622 persons registered on the National Intellectual Disability database in 2012, of whom 57.8% were men.
  • The gender breakdown at each level of disability shows a similar pattern with men representing more than half of persons in each category.
  • Nearly three-quarters of both men and women with a disability were classified as having a mild or moderate disability.
5.10 Ireland: Admissions to psychiatric hospitals and units, 2012
   
 per 100,000 population of which first admissions (%)
ConditionMenWomenMenWomen
Organic mental disorder10.69.356.454.2
Schizophrenia95.966.720.421.2
Depressive disorders107.4127.340.633.6
Mania40.750.724.422.1
Neuroses32.835.151.947.4
Personality and behavioural disorders14.232.324.518.4
Alcoholic disorders37.122.438.837.5
Other drug disorders27.29.243.442.3
Intellectual disability1.90.925.015.0
Eating disorders0.68.030.835.5
Other psychoses and Unspecified33.029.449.546.7
Total 401.6391.235.631.9
Source: Health Research Board, Activities of Irish Psychiatric Services

 

  • In 2012 the rate of admission to psychiatric units for men was 401.6 per 100,000 population, slightly higher than the rate for women at 391.2 per 100,000.
  • For both men and women the highest cause of admission was depressive disorders, with a rate for women of 127.3 per 100,000, 19% higher than the rate for men.
  • The next most common cause of admission for both men and women was schizophrenia, with an admission rate of 95.9 per 100,000 for men, 44% higher than the rate for women.
  • There were clear gender differences in the rates of admissions for other conditions. Women were more than twice as likely as men to be admitted for personality and behavioural disorders.
  • The male rate of admissions for alcoholic disorders was 66% higher than the female rate while the male rate of admissions for other drug disorders was nearly three times higher than the female rate.
5.11 Ireland: Recipients of Carer's Allowance and Carer's Benefit, 2003-2013
     
  number  
YearMenWomenTotal% women
20034,37817,57721,95580.1
20044,67419,03523,70980.3
20054,87920,95825,83781.1
20065,56123,56029,12180.9
20076,86928,27835,14780.5
20089,17536,64345,81880.0
200910,21339,92650,13979.6
201010,52440,05350,57779.2
201111,16642,13753,30379.1
201211,47742,37053,84778.7
201313,01145,72358,73477.8
Source: Department of Social Protection

 

  • There were 58,734 people in receipt of caring-related social welfare payments in 2013, of whom nearly four-fifths (77.8%) were women.
  • The number of recipients has more than doubled since 2003, when 21,955 people received these payments, while the number of men receiving these payments has nearly trebled, growing from 4,378 in 2003 to 13,011 by 2013.
5.12 Ireland: Recipients of Carer's Allowance and Carer's Benefit by age, 2013
     
  number  
Age groupMenWomenTotal% women
Under 251474696161.0
25-347104,8795,58910.7
35-442,24611,48513,73125.1
45-543,61711,95515,57226.1
55-643,1648,79911,96319.2
65 & over3,1278,13611,26317.8
Total13,01145,72358,734100.0
Source: Department of Social Protection

 

  • Just over half of all women in receipt of caring-related social welfare payments in 2013 were aged between 35 and 54.
  • 27.8% of men in receipt of caring-related social welfare payments in 2013 were in the 45-54 age group while just under a quarter were aged 55-64 (24.3%) and 65 or over (24%).
5.13 Ireland: Labour force participation rate of carers1 by unpaid help provided, 2011
   
labour force participation rate
Hours per weekMenWomen
1-1477.965.5
15-28 72.855.4
29-4269.148.4
43 or more50.132.0
Total carers69.552.5
All persons aged 15 and over69.454.6
Source: CSO Census of Population
   
1 Carers aged 15 years and over.

 

  • In 2011 the labour force participation rate for male carers aged 15 years and over was 69.5%, almost exactly the same as the rate of 69.4% for all men aged 15 and over.
  • The labour force participation rate for female carers aged 15 years and over was 52.5%, 2.1 percentage points below the rate of 54.6% for all women aged 15 and over.
  • Labour force participation rates for carers are highest for those providing 1-14 hours of unpaid help a week and lowest for those providing 43 hours or more a week.
5.14 Ireland: Health service personnel by grade category1, 2013
     
   number 
Grade categoryMenWomenTotal% women
Medical/Dental - Consultant1,8571,0972,95437.1
Medical/Dental - non-Consultant2,8143,4506,26455.1
Nursing3,12136,22239,34392.1
Health and social care professionals2,83415,06717,90184.2
General support staff4,5936,86811,46159.9
Other patient and client care5,02214,64419,66674.5
Management & administration2,60115,01317,61485.2
Total22,84292,361115,20380.2
Source: Health Service Executive, Service Personnel Census
     
1 Excludes home helps and those on career break. Caution should be exercised in making grade category classification comparisons over time due to the reclassification of certain grades. See Appendix 1.

 

  •  In 2013 four out of five (80.2%) employees in the Irish Health Service were women.
  • Women were in the majority in all the grades shown in the table with the exception of Medical and Dental consultants where men accounted for 62.9% of the positions.
  • Women accounted for 92.1% of nurses, 85.2% of managers and administrators and 84.2% of other health care professionals.