- 1 in 5 adults report experiencing discrimination
- 16% of Travellers and Roma report discrimination when looking for work
- Over 1 in 4 people experiencing discrimination in the workplace is on the grounds of race.
- Over 1 in 4 people experiencing discrimination when looking for work is on the grounds of socio-economic disadvantage.
- It is crucial that our equality legislation is strengthened, and people have access to justice.
In June, the CSO released “Equality and Discrimination 2024”, giving an overview of discrimination and its effects in Irish society today. Rates of discrimination have increased from 18% in 2019 to 22% in 2024 for adults in Ireland.
The entire report shows the instances of discrimination in particular contexts; this article will be examining the rates of discrimination for people particularly in the world of work.
Work-Related Discrimination
The CSO asked respondents about their experiences of discrimination 1) in the workplace and 2) Looking for work in the last 2 years. The CSO state “Generally, discrimination occurs where one person is treated less favourably than another person in a comparable situation, because they differ under any of the grounds for discrimination including gender, civil/marital status, family/carer status, socio-economic background, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, race, membership of the Traveller community, or criminal conviction.”
Discrimination in the Workplace
For people who reported they experienced discrimination in the workplace, 27% was on the grounds of race, which includes a person's skin colour, racial origin, ethnic group, and nationality, 24% on the grounds of gender, and 21% reported it was based on socio-economic background, such as their accent, address, socio-economic status etc. Bullying or harassment were the most common types of discrimination reported. People who face socio-economic disadvantage and people’s family/carer status also experienced limits in access to promotions and in relation to pay.
Most people who experienced discrimination said it had some impact on them; 29% of people said it had a serious or very serious effect.
Discrimination while Looking for Work
Discrimination while looking for work was experienced by a lot of people in Minority Ethnic Groups. 16% of Travellers and Roma and 12% of people of Black Irish/Black African/other Black background reported this type of discrimination.
Of the people who report experiencing discrimination when looking for work, 34% is on the grounds of race, 27% on socio-economic background, and 20% on the grounds of age. 1 in 3 people said this had a serious or very serious effect on them.
Discrimination Based on Socio-Economic Disadvantage
Discrimination based on accent, address, socio-economic status etc. was highly reported across all domains in the CSO survey. As well as in work-related areas, it is the most common ground for discrimination in health services (20%) and with An Garda Síochána (30%). Unlike the other grounds, there is no legislation for people to seek redress when they encounter this type of discrimination.
It is essential that our equality legislation protects people who experience this type of discrimination. As part of the Add the 10th Alliance, the INOU is campaigning for socio-economic status to be added as a tenth ground in our equality legislation. This will be a major step towards equality and protecting human rights in Ireland.