Survey of Income and Living Conditions 2021
The Survey of Income and Living Conditions (SILC) is a household survey which provides the data from which key national poverty indicators are derived; including the at risk of poverty rate, the consistent poverty rate, and rates of enforced deprivation. In their press release on May 6th 2022, the CSO note that “Income and poverty estimates from SILC 2021 are calculated from 2020 calendar year income.” Participants in this survey were interviewed in the first six months of 2021.
In 2021 the at-risk-of-poverty rate decreased 1.6 percentage points to 11.6%. However, without the COVID-19 pandemic income supports this figure would have been 19.9%. While if all social transfers are excluded, the at-risk-of-poverty rate would rise to 38.6%. Social transfers include, for example; Child Benefit, Housing Assistance Payment, Jobseekers payment, Pandemic Unemployment Payment, One Parent Family Payment, pensions, illness and disability payments.
The SILC data is presented under a number of difference categories including Principal Economic Status (PES). Under PES, for people who identified themselves as unemployed, their at-risk-of-poverty rates decreased by 10 percentage points to 23.2%. However, without the COVID-19 pandemic income supports this figure would have been 44.1%.
The CSO notes that the “enforced deprivation rate is the percentage of persons that are considered to be marginalised or deprived because they live in households that cannot afford goods and services which are considered to be the norm for other households in society.” This rate captures people in the population who were not able to afford at least two of the items/activities contained in a list of eleven. Amongst the issues noted by survey respondents were: unable to replace worn out furniture; unable to afford new (not second-hand) clothes; unable to afford to have family or friends for a drink or meal once a month; without heating at some stage in the last year.
In 2021 the deprivation rate was 13.8%, 0.5 percentage points lower than 2020. While for unemployed people, their deprivation rate was 31.6%, 1.7 percentage points lower than 2020.
At the national level the consistent poverty rate, which captures people who are at-risk-of-poverty and experience deprivation, was 4%. Again this figure was higher for people who are unemployed (10.2%), though it decreased by 6.2 percentage points over the year. Amongst the other groups with higher consistent poverty rates were people unable to work due to long-standing health problems (19.2%); households with one adult aged under 65 years (11.1%); households with one adult with children aged under 18 years (13.1%); no person at work in the household (12.4%); and people whose tenure status was rented or rent free (9.8%).
April’s Monthly Unemployment Figures
The Monthly Unemployment figures are produced by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) using benchmarks/estimates from the quarterly Labour Force Survey and trends in the monthly Live Register figures, these figures are also seasonally adjusted. One of the consequences of this methodology is that previously published figures can be revised.
At times this revision can be quite dramatic, which is certainly the case with the Monthly Unemployment figures for people aged 15-24. In early April the CSO published the March Monthly Unemployment figures, and that stage 45,600 young people were deemed unemployed, and their MUR was 12.3%. In the figures published in early May, these statistics were revised down to 25,400 and 7.2% respectively.
The CSO published the Monthly Unemployment (MU) figures for April 2022, on May 5th 2022. 129,500 people were unemployed in April 2022, a drop of 56,800 over the year. While the Monthly Unemployment Rate (MUR) was 4.8%, a decline of 2.7 percentage points. Unemployment decreased for both men and women over the period, by 31,100 and 25,800 respectively. Women accounted for 46% of the unemployed in both April 2022, and in April 2021.
In April 2022, 20,300 people aged 15-24 were unemployed: 40,600 fewer young people than a year ago. Their MUR was 5.6% in April, 2022, 14.5 percentage points lower than April 2021. Over the year, April 2021 to April 2022, unemployment amongst young men decreased by 71% to 9,000, and their unemployment rate was 5%. Unemployment amongst young women decreased by 62% to 11,300, and their unemployment rate was 6.2%. In April 2022, women accounted for 56% of those unemployed in this age category, in comparison to 49% in April 2021.
For people aged 25-74, 109,200 people were unemployed, a decrease of 16,300 people over the year and their MUR decreased by 1.1pp to 4.7%. Over the year unemployment decreased for men by 13% to 60,300, and their MUR was 4.9%. Unemployment also decreased for women by 13% to 48,800, and their Monthly Unemployment Rate (MUR) was 4.5%. Women accounted for 45% of those unemployed in this age category in both April 2022, and in April 2021.