This release is categorised as a CSO Frontier Series Output. Particular care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this release as it may use new methods which are under development and/or data sources which may be incomplete, for example, new administrative data sources.
The income and employment status in 2023 of people of working age (15-64 years) experiencing a long-lasting condition or difficulty are looked at in this chapter. The analysis is completed using employment data from Revenue and social welfare payments data from the Department of Social Protection (DSP).
This report uses six categories for employment status, (see Background Notes for more details):
Previous reports by CSO, ESRI and others have used the principal economic status question in Census to look at employment rate of people experiencing a long-lasting condition or difficulty. The principal economic status in Census 2022 shows that 34% of people aged 15 years and over experiencing long-lasting conditions or difficulties to any extent were in employment. This report uses a different method to calculate employment which is based on income and number of weeks worked (see Background Notes). This will include those who reported 'Student or pupil', 'Retired from employment', 'Looking after home/family', or other status as their principal economic status in Census 2022 but meet the definition of employment based on income and number of weeks worked in 2023.
In 2023, 20.8% of people of working age (15-64 years) experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent were in employment with no social welfare, 7.0% were employed and had a long-term disability payment, and 9.9% were employed and had another working age social welfare payment.
Overall, just under two in five (37.7%) people of working age experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent were in employment in 2023.
In 2023, 41.0% of people of working age (15-64 years) experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to any extent were in employment with no social welfare, 4.2% were employed and had a long-term disability payment, and 15.4% were employed and had another working age social welfare payment.
Overall, just over three in five (60.6%) people of working age experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to any extent were in employment in 2023.
In 2023, of all the people of working age who experienced a long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent, 44.6% were not in employment and were on long-term disability payments, 7.6% were on other social welfare payments, and 10.2% had no working age income or supports.
Thus, just over three in five (62.3%) people of working age who experienced a long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent were not in employment in 2023. When looking at the broader category of long-lasting condition or difficulty to any extent, the figure was 39.4%.
People aged 25-34 who experienced a long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent had the highest proportion in employment at 53.7%.
The highest proportion in employment who experienced a long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent, with no social welfare payment, was 29.8% for those aged 15-24. Whereas, for those who experienced a long-lasting condition or difficulty to any extent, the highest proportion in employment with no social welfare payment, was 47.5% for those aged 25-34.
Of the people of working age who experienced a long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent, those with deafness or hearing impairment had the highest proportion in employment with no social welfare payment, at 32.9%.
For people of working age who experienced a long-lasting condition or difficulty to any extent, those with blindness or vision impairment had the highest proportion in employment with no social welfare payment, at 51.1%.
Median gross income (across all sources) for all people of working age experiencing a long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent was €14,980 in 2023. The highest value was €19,260 for those with deafness or a hearing impairment, while the lowest was €12,260 for those with an intellectual disability, or difficulty learning, remembering, or concentrating.
For those with employment (those in categories 'Employed, not receiving social welfare', 'Employed, receiving long-term disability payment' and 'Employed, receiving other working age social welfare'), median earned income was €23,190 for those experiencing a long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent. The highest median earned income was for those with deafness or a hearing impairment (€30,115), while the lowest was for those with an intellectual disability (€10,680).
The median social welfare amount of those who received any social welfare payment (including those also employed) was €12,550.
Disability Allowance is a means-tested payment for people of working age with a specified disability that has continued for at least one year, or is expected to continue for at least one year, and whose income falls below certain limits. A person in receipt of Disability Allowance can take up employment or self-employment. A recipient can earn up to €165 per week from employment or self-employment without their payment being affected, while weekly earnings between €165 and €375 are assessed at a 50% rate (i.e. 50% are disregarded for the purposes of the means assessment). Earnings from employment over €375 per week are assessed in full.
For people in employment who experienced a long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent, median earned income was €27,775 for those not receiving disability payments, over three times higher than the median of €8,530 for those who were receiving disability payments. The median earned income for those not receiving disability payments ranged from €33,180 for those with deafness or hearing impairment, to €17,715 for those with difficulty learning, remembering, or concentrating. For recipients of disability payments, the median earned income ranged from €9,910 for people with pain, breathing or any other chronic illness or condition, to €5,445 for those with an intellectual disability.
CSO's Earnings Analysis Using Administrative Data 2023 stated that the median annual earnings for all employees was €43,221 in 2023. This is significantly higher than the median earned income of people who experienced a long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent in 2023.
The main sectors where people of working age (15-64 years) experiencing a long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent were employed in 2023 were Wholesale and Retail Trade (12,782), Human Health & Social Work Activities (10,285), and Accommodation & Food Service Activities (7,227).
The highest median earned income for people who experienced a long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent, and who did not receive a long-term disability payment, was in the Information and Communication sector (€49,435), while the lowest was in Accommodation & Food Service Activities (€13,615). For those who did receive a long-term disability payment, the highest median earned income was in Public Administration & Defence (€16,435) and the lowest was in Accommodation & Food Service Activities (€5,790).
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