This publication 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.
Around 63% of respondents believe their financial situation has worsened since last year, while a further 64% believe their situation will get worse over the next 12 months.
Utilities, healthcare, and having no savings/pension are the three biggest financial worries.
Almost all (96%) respondents are concerned about the current cost of living, with 56% being very concerned.
Some 35% of people said they are just getting by financially while 19% said they are short money every month to cover their expenses.
Around 80% of people said they have experienced a decrease in disposable income in the last 12 months.
Almost every respondent (94%) said they had made cutbacks, with 62% cutting back on utilities (electricity, heating, etc.), 51% buying less fuel, and 49% not buying as much food.
The biggest cutbacks to non-essential costs were socialising (72%) and takeaways (62%).
Please note that from 7 December 2022, we have revised the percentage of respondents who have made cutbacks from 96% to 94% in bullet point six of the Key Findings section.
Pulse Surveys are part of the CSO 'Take Part' Campaign. They are usually short, online surveys and take the ‘pulse’ of the nation about an issue at a point in time. Pulse Surveys allow the public to get involved in the CSO's work so that your story can become part of the story, the story of Ireland. These types of surveys ensure that the CSO can provide relevant, timely and insightful data for the public.
The 'Our Lives, Our Money' CSO Pulse Survey was carried out online between Thursday 27 October and Sunday 13 November 2022. It was open to anyone aged 18 years and over living in the Republic of Ireland. The online electronic questionnaire was available on the CSO.ie website and on all CSO social media platforms. This survey gathered 11,316 responses, for which the CSO wishes to thank all the participants who took the time to take part.
It is worth noting that the results from the 'Our Lives, Our Money' survey reflect only the responses of those who completed the CSO Pulse Survey questionnaire. While results are calibrated to Irish population totals, the findings cannot be generalised to the entire Irish population, as the people who answered the questionnaire were not randomly chosen from the population. As the survey was carried out online, it doesnot represent views of those with no online activity. Even with these caveats, however, we believe that this report provides a valuable insight into money concerns in Ireland. See the Background Notes for further details on the survey methodology. The CSO publishes results of Pulse Surveys as Frontier Publications.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (05 December 2022) released ‘Our Lives Our Money’ CSO Pulse Survey. This on-line survey was carried out between 27 October and 13 November 2022, and asked people in Ireland about their money concerns and their changing spending habits. This release provides insight on how people are coping with increasing prices of goods and services and what steps, if any, they are taking. This is a Frontier Publication which means care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this release as it may use new methods which are under development.
Commenting on the results of this publication, Aoife O’Neill, Statistician in the Social Data Collection division, said: "More than half or 56% of respondents to the ‘Our Lives Our Money’ CSO Pulse Survey said they are very concerned with the current cost of living. When asked what they are most worried about, 76% said utility costs are of greatest concern. Other areas of concern respondents highlighted from a maximum choice of three include healthcare (30%), no savings or pension (31%), credit card loan (19%), and mortgage/rent (24%).
Financial Situation
When it comes to people’s financial situation, 63% of respondents believe they are in a worse financial situation now than they were a year ago, and a similar percentage, 64% believe their situation will get worse in the next 12 months.
More than 35% of people said they are just getting by financially while 19% said they are short of money every month to cover their expenses. Some 80% of people said they have experienced a decrease in disposable income in the last 12 months.
Of those who are in full-time employment, men (30%) were more likely to ask for a pay rise than women (20%) as a way to counteract the cost of living increases. More than 40% of part-time employees said they went to work unwell to avoid any potential loss in wages.
Cutbacks
When asked if they had cut back on any essential cost in the last 12 months, 62% of people said they had reduced spending on utilities (electricity, heating), while 51% said they were not buying as much fuel. Around 54% of households with children reported making cutbacks on food.
When asked about non-essential costs and cutbacks, 53% of all respondents had reduced their trips to the cinema, theatre, or concerts, and 58% had reduced their expenditure on clothes, hairdressing, and beauty.
Around four in ten (41%) reduced their spend on media subscriptions on the likes of Spotify, Netflix, and newspapers, with nearly a quarter (24%) no longer spending as much on club subscriptions such as gyms and social clubs.
Age Differences
Different age groups had different concerns: 45% of those aged over 70 said healthcare was their biggest concern, whereas those aged 60 to 69 were most likely to cut back on fuel (60%). Younger adults were concerned they couldn't afford to start a family, with nearly three in ten (29%) of 18-29 year olds selected this option. More than 57% of respondents aged 18 to 29 said they would consider emigrating to lower their cost of living. Those considering emigrating to lower their cost of living was similarly high among renters (43%).
Inflation
Results suggest respondents are conscious of the current rate of inflation at 9.2%, with 72% estimating the rate of inflation to be between 7% and 11%. Almost all (97%) of respondents had seen an increase in their weekly food shop, with a median or mid-point increase of €30 being reported by people. The median increase for respondents with children in their household was €40 for their weekly food shop.”