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This release is categorised as a CSO Frontier Series output and is the first in a series of annual releases based on a new methodology developed by the CSO that allows for an analysis of demographics, economic activity, and social welfare activity for people seeking International Protection who are beneficiaries of the Daily Expense Allowance for the years 2016 to 2024.
The Daily Expense Allowance is a social welfare benefit which is only available to International Protection applicants, however not all people seeking International Protection benefit from the Daily Expense Allowance. For more information on the methodology, including the definition of employment activity, see the Editor's Note or the Frequently Asked Questions.
As a CSO Frontier Series release, this release may use methods under development and/or data sources which may be incomplete, for example new administrative data sources. Particular care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this experimental analysis.
In population statistics, Signs of Life is a statistical method that uses administrative data that could be indicative of the actual presence and usual residence of a person in a relevant territory or country. Presence of a "sign of life" could be an indication that a person interacts with the State which is evidence that they are usually resident. Absence of a "sign of life" could be an indication that a person does not interact with the State; that this person may have a relationship with someone who does interact with the State; or this absence may be evidence that they are not usually resident.
The section below explores the signs of life for beneficiaries of the Daily Expense Allowance with two methods:
Monthly administrative activity has been determined for each person aged 15 or above (in the year in question) with social welfare activity (including the Daily Expense Allowance) or employment activity. Any monthly administrative activity indicates a "sign of life" for a person in the calendar year in question. As explained in the Background Notes, social welfare activity is defined as any person appearing in the Department of Social Protection real-time database. This includes payments such as unemployment benefit, child benefit and the additional needs payment.
Administrative activity is assessed for beneficiaries of the Daily Expense Allowance (aged 15 or above) and also compared across both sex and age.
Irish Population Estimates from Administrative Data Sources (IPEADS), 2023 estimates the Administrative Population of Ireland. IPEADS features statistics that are entirely based on administrative records including the datasets mentioned in the Background Notes but with the added benefit of covering more datasets such as educational datasets. It is possible to assess the presence of beneficiaries of the Daily Expense Allowance on the 2023 IPEADS dataset.
For the results presented below, administrative activity has been determined for beneficiaries of the Daily Expense Allowances aged 15 or above (for the year in question).
In 2024, new beneficiaries of the Daily Expense Allowance in 2022 and 2023 had the highest percentage of administrative activity at over 91%. Those with Daily Expense Allowance starting in 2020, 2021 and 2024 also had high percentages of administrative activity in 2024, 84% for 2020, 85% for 2021 and 87% for 2024.
In 2023, new beneficiaries of the Daily Expense Allowance in 2022 and 2023 had the highest percentage of administrative activity at over 92%. Those with Daily Expense Allowance starting in 2020 and 2021 also had high percentages of administrative activity in 2023, 85% for 2020 and 88% for 2021.
Close to 90% of new beneficiaries of the Daily Expense Allowance in 2020 (86%), 2021 (91%) and 2022 (94%) had some administrative activity in 2022.
There are generally similar administrative activity percentages (often marginally higher for men) for the three administrative activity years (2022, 2023 and 2024) assessed in Figure 4.2.
In 2024, similar administrative activity percentages were observed for men and women for new beneficiaries of the Daily Expense Allowance from 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. A lower 2024 administrative activity percentage was observed for women for new beneficiaries of the Daily Expense Allowance from 2024, 76% for women compared with 94% for men.
In 2023, male administrative activity percentages were higher than women for new beneficiaries of the Daily Expense Allowance from 2021 (89% for men and 86% for women), 2022 (97% for men and 91% for women) and 2023 (96% for men and 83% for women).
The youngest age group generally had lower administrative activity percentages than the older age groups in each year of activity as shown in Table 4.2.
For those beneficiaries of the Daily Expense Allowance from 2019, 59% of those aged 15-24 had administrative activity in 2022, 54% had administrative activity in 2023 and 47% had administrative activity in 2024. Corresponding percentages for those aged 25-44 were 86% for 2022, 87% for 2023 and 85% for 2024. For the oldest age group (45 years and above), 83% had administrative activity in 2022, 84% in 2023 and 83% in 2024.
For administrative activity in the year 2024 each percentage for the youngest age group (15-24) is lower than the corresponding percentage for both older groups (25-44 or 45 years and above). Still focusing on administrative activity in the year 2024, it is interesting to note that percentages were generally higher for the Daily Expense Allowance start years of 2022, 2023 and 2024 when compared with corresponding percentages for 2021, 2020 and 2019.
As outlined in the Introduction, IPEADS 2023 estimates the Administrative Population of Ireland and references the population in 2023. IPEADS can be used as an excellent source of a "sign of life" for the beneficiaries of the Daily Expense Allowance described in this publication. IPEADS has the advantage of covering the full age distribution of the population and thus can be used to provide evidence of a "sign of life" for those aged above and below 15 years of age. This was not the case for the previous sections of this chapter. For this analysis, using IPEADS 2023, Daily Expense Allowance starting years of 2023 and 2024 have been excluded.
The level of administrative activity on IPEADS 2023 for beneficiaries of the Daily Expense Allowance from 2016 to 2022 are relatively consistent as shown by the line in Figure 4.3. The percentage active on IPEADS 2023 is above 84% for all start years but 2016 (where 81% are active on IPEADS 2023). Over 86% (or 10,143 people) with a start year of 2022 were active on IPEADS 2023.
There is a clear sex difference when the IPEADS 2023 activity percentages are assessed across the starting year of the Daily Expense Allowance.
For new beneficiaries of the Daily Expense Allowance in this time period there are higher percentages of women active in IPEADS 2023. Close to 90% of Women (89% from 2016, 93% from 2017, 90% from 2018 and 89% from 2019) from each year remained active in the 2023 instance of IPEADS. Male percentages are lower; however they appear to be increasing as the starting year moves on (76% from 2016, 81% from 2017, 82% from 2018 and 85% from 2019).
The sex distribution of Daily Expense Allowance beneficiaries from 2020 onwards changes with higher percentages of men now active on IPEADS 2023. The difference for those from 2020 is minimal (men just above 84% and women just below 84%) but the difference then increases. For beneficiaries from 2021, 86% of men are active on IPEADS 2023 compared to 82% of women. For beneficiaries from 2022, 88% of men are active on IPEADS 2023 compared to 82% of women.
The age distribution for the percentage active on IPEADS 2023 changes depending on the start year of the Daily Expense Allowance as shown in Figure 4.5.
For beneficiaries with Daily Expense Allowance starting years of 2016, 2017 or 2018, there are higher percentages for the two younger age groups (0 - 14 and 15 - 24 years) when compared to the older age groups (25 - 44 years and 45 years and above).
For beneficiaries from 2016, 90% of 0 - 14 year olds and 92% of 15 - 24 year olds remain active in IPEADS 2023, the corresponding rates for the older ages are 78% for 25 - 44 and 77% for 45 years and above.
For beneficiaries from 2017, 92% of 0 - 14 year olds and 93% of 15 - 24 year olds remain active in IPEADS 2023, the corresponding rates for the older ages are 82% for 25 - 44 and 81% for 45 years and above.
For beneficiaries from 2018, 90% of 0 - 14 year olds and 88% of 15 - 24 year olds remain active in IPEADS 2023, the corresponding rates for the older ages are 85% for 25 - 44 and 78% for 45 years and above.
For beneficiaries from 2019, the age distribution is more even across the four age groups.
For beneficiaries with Daily Expense Allowance starting years of 2020, 2021 or 2022, there are lower percentages for the two younger age groups (0 - 14 and 15 - 24 years) when compared to the older age groups (25 - 44 years and 45 years and above).
For beneficiaries from 2020, 68% of 0 - 14 year olds and 82% of 15 - 24 year olds remain active in IPEADS 2023, the corresponding rates for both older age groups was 89%.
For beneficiaries from 2021, 62% of 0 - 14 year olds and 84% of 15 - 24 year olds remain active in IPEADS 2023, the corresponding rates for the older ages are 92% for 25 - 44 and 86% for 45 years and above.
For beneficiaries from 2022, 47% of 0 - 14 year olds and 87% of 15 - 24 year olds remain active in IPEADS 2023, the corresponding rates for both older age groups was 94%.
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